The demand for Data Centres continues to rise on a global scale.
Recorded at the end of 2023, there was just short of 11,000 data centres worldwide – 33% attributed to the US, 15% in Europe and 10% in China.
There are no signs of the growth in data centres slowing either, with a report published by McKinskey & Company predicting that Data Centres will grow by 10% every year until 2030, equating to global spend on facilities hitting a staggering $49million.
So, as the number of Data Centres continuing to rise, we explore key trends to keep an eye out for in 2024 that are impacting this industry.. and the opportunities and challenges they may bring.
Sustainability
There is no doubting that sustainability is becoming a top priority for all businesses worldwide, but for data centres, this is has become their top priority.
When building the centres, great efforts are being focused on reducing the impact they have on the environment, whilst maintaining their efficiency and reliability to process and store data. Although many may think that Data Centres exert huge amounts of energy, they in fact equate for 2% of the world’s energy consumption which is around the same as the Aviation industry.
Whilst the data centre industry is trying to improve its sustainability, and as we already mentioned this is their primary focus, it still remains the industry’s biggest challenge that is faced by all individuals working in it; from developers to contractors and clients.
What does this mean for you?
Every stage and aspect of a data centre – from planning and construction to maintenance – must be carefully considered to improve their sustainability.
Do the people in your team have appropriate knowledge of sustainability in order to support the development of this?
What talent would advance the development of this in your project team?
Edge Computing
As the volume of data generated by IoT devices and other edge devices continues to grow, more organisations are likely to adopt edge computing solutions to process and analyse this data closer to the source. This is resulting in…
…Greater Use of AI and Machine Learning.
Last year we saw the emergence of AI apps like ChatGPT, Dall-E, Lensa AI and GitHub Copilot that allow computers using machine learning algorithms to generate content, including text, images, audio, video, and code; and developments like these are set to continue to develop and increase throughout 2024. Did you know that the launch of Open Ai’s ChatGPT triggered excitement, gaining a million users in just 5 days.
As we continue into this year, Data Centres must leverage AI and machine learning to optimise their operations, improve efficiency, and better manage the vast amounts of data they handle.
Cyber Security
With the growing volume and value of data stored in data centres, cybersecurity will remain a top priority for organisations. In 2023, we can expect to see continued investments in security measures to protect against cyber threats.
These are just a few of the potential trends we could see in the data centre industry in 2023. As always, technological advancements and shifting market demands could drive unexpected changes in the industry over the coming year.
Check out our website for our current Data Centre vacancies here.
