What is the Future of Data Center Operations?
Data centers support everything from online transactions and streaming services to enterprise IT infrastructure and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI). As technology continues to evolve rapidly, so do the operational demands placed on data centers. Staying ahead requires understanding the key trends shaping the future and adapting strategies accordingly. In this blog post, we’ll explore what may lie ahead for data center operations.
Strategies to Overcome Rising Costs
Data center professionals are grappling with rising costs driven by near all-time high colocation expenses, climbing energy prices, persistent inflation. The need for substantial investments to meet the growing demand for digital services, including AI, further exacerbates these financial pressures.
According to Uptime Institute, cost issues are the top concern for data center professionals for the next 12 months.
To save money, organizations should consider deploying data center management tools that can help increase resource utilization to defer capital expenses, improve energy efficiency to reduce energy costs, maintain uptime to reduce costly downtime and SLA penalties, and better manage colo power utilization to avoid peak demand charges, validate energy bills to confirm their accuracy, and increase the utilization of existing circuits.
Streamlining Operations with Data Center Automation
Data center automation—the process in which routine tasks of data center operations such as are completed with little to no manual effort—will continue to be leveraged to increase operational efficiency.
Leading organizations are already automating tasks including device provisioning, capacity planning, asset auditing, monitoring, and reporting by deploying modern Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) software and integrating it with their CMDBs, ticketing systems, Dev Ops tools, and BMS tools. With automation via integration, manual effort and swivel chair management is reduced while data accuracy and presentation is enhanced.
AI may be leveraged for data center operations in the future with the top perceived benefits including increased facility efficiency, lower risk of human error, and increased staff productivity. However, according to Uptime Institute, only 58% of data center operators trust AI to make operational decisions, down from 76% two years ago.
More Remote Edge Data Centers
The growth of edge computing is redefining data center architecture. With more devices generating vast amounts of data in real time—think Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, autonomous vehicles, and augmented reality applications—there’s a growing need to process data closer to the source to reduce latency and bandwidth use. This has led to the rise of micro data centers located closer to end users.
While edge computing offers significant benefits, including faster response times and localized data processing, it also introduces challenges such as how to make the most of physical space and power capacity, direct technicians to complete changes properly, and monitor site health across multiple locations. Managing numerous decentralized sites requires robust remote management capabilities and effective strategies will involve deploying DCIM software to visualize, model, monitor, and manage the infrastructure across all global sites.
A Strategic Shift Back to On-Premises Data Centers
In recent years, some organizations have started to pull workloads back from the cloud, a trend known as cloud repatriation. According to Barclays, 83% of enterprises plan to move at least some workloads to a private cloud.
This shift is often driven by the rising costs of cloud services, data sovereignty issues, and the need for greater control over infrastructure. On-premises data centers offer more predictable expenses and greater customization, making them an attractive option for certain workloads.
Organizations considering a cloud migration in the near future should also consider how they will drive efficiency and maintain uptime with their potential increase of on-premises infrastructure.
During the repatriation process, DCIM software can be used to identify underutilized resources for migrated workloads, simplify and automate capacity planning, make more informed energy management decisions, and proactively identify issues before they potentially lead to downtime.
Energy Efficiency and Sustainability Initiatives
Sustainability is no longer just a buzzword in the data center industry; it’s a priority driven by regulatory pressures, corporate sustainability goals, and a growing awareness of environmental impact. Data centers are significant consumers of electricity, and as global demand for digital services rises, so does their energy footprint. The future of data center operations will see continued efforts to reduce carbon emissions and improve energy efficiency.
Key strategies are likely to include embracing energy-efficient technologies, such as liquid cooling and high-efficiency servers, increased data center instrumentation with power meters and environmental sensors, and deploying a DCIM solution to monitor, alert, and report on the data generated while also revealing actionable insights to potentially reduce energy consumption and maximize the utilization of existing facilities to defer new buildouts.
Evolving Skills and Roles
As data center technologies advance, so too must the skills of the workforce managing them. There’s a growing demand for professionals who understand data center management software, virtualization technologies, and automation tools, and are proficient with hardware and excellent communicators. The ability to bridge the gap between traditional IT skills and newer fields like data science will also become increasingly valuable.
Upskilling is critical in this evolving landscape. Data center professionals will need to continuously learn and adapt to elevate their strategic role within their organization.
Technology Asset Management for All Spaces
Today, organizations own thousands of technology assets distributed across a wide range of environments, from traditional data centers to IDF closets and other remote sites.
To streamline operations, cross-functional collaboration, and decision-making, leading enterprises are seeking to create a single pane of glass to track manage all their technology assets in one system.
DCIM software facilitates this single pane of glass to all technology assets by offering a centralized database and web-based interface, model templates for automated data entry, a relational database for dependency mapping, connectors and APIs to enable automation via integration, and concurrent multi-user access with granular permissions.
Building to Chip Power Capacity Management
With rack densities increasing and the demand for digital services on the rise, the future of data center operations will require organizations to holistically monitor and manage their power capacity at all levels of the facility to maximize power capacity utilization while maintaining uptime.
DCIM software provides built-in intelligence on the power capacity and usage at every hop in your power circuits, from the building level down to individual servers. Managing power loads, three-phase power distribution, circuit breaker states, and ensuring redundancy requirements are met at all levels can lead to more efficient and reliable facilities.
Bringing It All Together
The future of data center operations promises to be more decentralized and automated. To stay ahead, data center professionals must be proactive in adopting new technologies, optimizing infrastructure for efficiency and sustainability, and continuously evolving their skills. The trends shaping the industry—from automation and AI to edge computing and cloud repatriation—present opportunities to drive growth, reduce costs, and meet the demands of a data-driven world.
Data center operators should embrace this transformation with a forward-thinking approach, leveraging advanced tools and strategies to create resilient, future-ready facilities.
Want to see how Sunbird’s world-leading DCIM software can help you better manage your data center now and in the future? Get your free test drive now.