2022 Data Center Trends
There has been a dramatic change within the Data Center industry over the last two years. Due to the rise of digitalization in the workplace and at home, there has been an increase in working remotely and adapting to a hybrid model.
Continued Automation & Self Service
In 2021, many consumers started using smart connected IoT devices and services at home. It’s estimated that the global smart home market will reach $138.9 billion by 2026. It is predicted that digital health and assisted home living services will also rise significantly within the next ten years.
A predicted Data Center trend in 2022 will be automation and self-service. There has been a change in demand in what B2B and B2C customers expect when it comes to the delivery of digital services. This has been driven in part by the COVID-19 pandemic, and it has no sign of receding as we begin to come out of the other end of the pandemic. According to Terry Storrar, Managing Director at Leaseweb, 2022 will bring more automated and self-service offerings because services will be molded and influenced by end users who want to have control over the service. Gartner predicts that by 2025, 60% of organizations will be using infrastructure automation tools.
Increased Focus on Efficiency
With Data Centers across the globe currently using 1.5-2% of the world’s electricity, the industry will continue to be focused on efficiency initiatives. A number of studies indicate an increase, using up to 13% of the global electricity supply within the next ten years.
While there is still more progress to be made, many Data Center operators have been laser focused on increased efficiency both from a cost stand point and environmental impact. An example of this is the adoption of liquid immersion cooling. Recently, Intel and GRC announced that they’re collaborating on a number of liquid immersion cooling initiatives. Check out one of our earlier blogs on liquid cooling. The focus on conserving energy and shifting to green power is a common trend found in the Data Center industry. In 2021, we had the opportunity to attend an informative webinar with Vertiv and Mission Critical Magazine focusing on Data Center sustainability.
This year, Data Centers will continue to enhance their efficiency offerings. Not only is it cost-effective, but more and more end-users and consumers are demanding an efficient Data Center ecosystem.
Lastly, there will continue to be a shift to hybrid cloud. During the last year, we have seen ‘hyperscalers’ such as Google Cloud and AWS enter the industry as a tool to maintain business operations in the era of remote work. Many are adopting to a hybrid cloud approach. By relying on the public cloud, organizations risk spending more than they need to. Limiting public cloud usage will reduce latency and cut costs. In 2022, many companies will become increasingly savvy about availability, uptime promises and usage costs as they evaluate which infrastructure models best represent their company. 2022 will consist of a “best of both worlds” approach that will spark a hybrid cloud strategy in order to better manage both cloud spending and performance.
