OntheNet managing director Tak Woo says the shortage of data centres will affect the Coast's business economy.

"Many companies, especially larger ones, want to store their data locally in world-class facilities, but the fact is, there are no other data centres on the Gold Coast other than us and a few in Brisbane," he says.

Mr Woo says business operators need the centres as technology advances and demand for first-rate data centre facilities increases.

OntheNet sales manager Peter Lepherd warns businesses to be cautious when choosing a facility.

"Data centres need at least a high security set up, with a decontaminated environment, redundant physical fibre paths, redundant and uninterruptible power supplies, with diesel generators as a back up and sufficient fire protection," he says.

"Data storage can be vital for a business, so it is very important to store it with the utmost of care. The problem you can encounter is that anyone can put a few computer boxes together and call it a data centre.

"You have to be careful," says Mr Lepherd.