3 Biggest Trends Shaping the Future of Data Centre Operations

3 Biggest Trends Shaping the Future of Data Centre Operations.

June. 25, 2024

Since their establishment, data centres have played an instrumental role in powering digital economies across the globe. While they have undergone multiple transformations over the years, the rapid pace of digitalisation and the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, and other cutting-edge technologies are bringing about a paradigm shift in the landscape of data centre operations.

With gazillions of bytes of data being collected, processed, and analysed by the second, the very nature of how data centres are designed and maintained is undergoing a litmus test, bringing a unique set of challenges and underlying opportunities to the table. Amidst ever-growing customer demand and cut-throat competition to grab the biggest slice of the pie, businesses need to recalibrate how they run their data centres, if they are to, not just survive, but thrive in a highly interconnected, dynamic, and rapidly disrupted digital era.

The Road Ahead for Data Centres

As businesses look to find the sweet spot between innovation and cost optimisation, high-performance and environmental sustainability, manpower and machinery in their data centres, there is a pressing need to do away with obsolete systems and practices and adopt a forward-looking approach instead. New-age networking and data centre architectures are required to address complex requirements and operational challenges, and provide effective solutions to enhance scalability, security, energy efficiency, and sustainability in data centres.

Looking at 2024 and beyond, here are some of the biggest trends shaping the future of data centre operations:

1. AI is not just Changing the Playing Field, but the Entire Game Altogether

There are umpteen sectors that are rapidly integrating AI capabilities into their day-to-day operations – data centres are no different. 77% of organisations plan to ramp up AI-related expenditures in 2024, including upscaling their data centre operations to drive operational excellence, technology advancement, and connected infrastructure to enhance performance and resilience. Be it using advanced analytics and predictive modelling to pre-empt technical failures or strengthening security mechanisms to effectively detect and neutralise threats, AI has a multitude of use cases that can revolutionise how data centres operate. This can go a long way in preventing system failures, reducing downtime, and proactively addressing blockers that could potentially derail operations. On top of maximising your technology ROI, AI is also at the forefront of driving energy efficiency and sustainability within your data centres by playing a key role in driving informed decision-making to optimise power consumption and reduce their carbon footprint.

2. The Push for Energy Efficiency and Sustainability is Well and Truly On

For years, the negative environmental impact of data centres has been a burning issue – one that has raised intense debate and discussion, but very little meaningful action to back up the noise. However, this narrative is changing, with organisations now placing a strong focus on optimising power consumption and accelerating their transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy like solar or wind energy to power their data centres. With data centres and data transmission networks accounting for 1% of energy-related GHG emissions and 1-1.5% of global electricity consumption, it is mission-critical to implement comprehensive measures to reduce their negative environmental impact and align with the roadmap of achieving Net Zero Emissions (NZE) by 2050.

Businesses can leverage AI and machine learning (ML) capabilities, virtualisation technology, IoT, and big data analytics to predict climate patterns ahead of time. They can intelligently analyse and adapt energy consumption, monitor their equipment performance in real-time, and streamline their work streams and server management processes to drive energy efficiency and minimise wastage of resources across the board. Liquid cooling, for example, could be a viable alternative to the traditional air-cooling systems to support next-generation processors and modern workloads, thereby scaling your data centre operations while reducing your Scope 2 and Scope 3 carbon emissions. All in all, building green and climate-resilient data centres is the way to go, as we co-create an inclusive and sustainable digital economy for generations to come.

3. Automation Remains Key to Enhancing Agility and Coping with Labour Shortages

Data centres across the globe continue to grapple with acute labour shortages, credit crunches, and skills gaps – a situation likely to remain the same or deteriorate in the coming years. This makes it even more important to embed agility and automation at the heart of your data centre operations. Not only does this help to save manual effort and minimise human errors, but it can also help you achieve higher productivity and efficiency with the resources you have at your disposal. Automation already exists in several facets of data centre operations including scheduling, processing, monitoring, application delivery, and troubleshooting blockers within the IT infrastructure and network ecosystem. This can be expanded further to streamline other labour-intensive tasks and repetitive processes, so that your people can spend the bulk of their time on value-adding activities that accelerate the fulfilment of your strategic goals. With proper automation capabilities in place, you can be better equipped to scale your data centres quickly, while maintaining high stability, security, and operational continuity amidst workforce transitions and volatile market conditions.

As the digital world evolves by the day, data centres need to keep pace with the change. The practices that worked ten years ago may soon become redundant, just like what works today may not be applicable in ten years’ time. With the continued adoption of cutting-edge technology and the renewed focus on efficiency and sustainability, a new-age approach is needed to power your data centres at scale and speed – one that enables you to activate your tomorrow, today.