Top 10: Trends of 2024

It is no secret in 2024 that the data centre industry has undergone rapid change. As technology evolves and sustainability demands intensify, data centre operators have faced unprecedented transformation.

Likewise, rising energy costs and environmental regulations are pushing operators to innovate, while edge computing and cloud services continue reshaping traditional architectures. 

With this in mind, Data Centre Magazine looks at some of the leading data centre trends that dominated the landscape in 2024. These trends have been critical in driving data centre evolution this year, making them smarter, greener and more efficient in order to meet modern computing demands, whilst balancing operational costs and environmental impact.

10. Cybersecurity

Security is now a significant factor in the data centre world. It’s crucial for third-party AI data centres to start thinking seriously about their cybersecurity measures, given a data centre cyber attack has the potential to be catastrophic.

Co-founder of US National Cybersecurity Center, Michael Marcotte, told us in September: “CEOs often know little about cybersecurity under their own roof – let alone around highly complex digital infrastructure like external AI data centres. CEOs need to understand them as new vulnerabilities.”

Read our full interview with Michael Marcotte HERE

9. Multi-vendor data centres

Data centre operators are continuing to implement multi-vendor solutions to improve their overall operations, whilst keeping data safe. This conversation intensified in 2024 in the wake of the global IT outage, as businesses argue that having multiple vendors mitigates risk.

The data centre services market grew from US$56.65bn in 2023 to US$62.23bn in 2024. It now continues to grow as the industry moves into 2025, particularly in the US, as data centre companies are having to focus on reducing costs and improving operational efficiency.

8. Heat reuse

As data centres are having to work harder to cater to demand, they continue to generate excess heat that could have detrimental impacts on the planet. When it comes to the data centre sector, using excess heat from facilities has been discussed as a potential solution to the energy crisis.

Heat reuse could contribute to organisations being more efficient, reducing global energy consumption and streamlining services. Excess heat could be repurposed to heat houses and business buildings, thereby generating less waste and energy use.

7. Colocation

A data centre colocation company is a large data facility which offers rental space for businesses to keep their servers in. Through the use of a colocation service, businesses can enjoy their data needs being taken care of, without having to invest in building and maintaining their own data facilities.

Agreements typically include power, internet connectivity and physical security. Colocated data centres may also offer managed services like disaster recovery and security management. It can also be more cost-effective for smaller businesses, as it removes the need to build and maintain a facility.

6. Liquid Cooling

Liquid cooling itself refers to the use of liquid to lower the temperature of computer processor units (CPUs) and graphics processing units (GPUs). Liquid cooling has arguably been one of the most talked about data centre trends in recent months, as increased numbers of companies have continued to pioneer new liquid cooling technologies. 

Given rising costs amid an energy crisis and pressures to be more environmentally efficient, the use of liquid cooling within data centres has been celebrated for its potential to improve energy efficiency. It also offers the possibility of redirecting excess heat to other purposes, such as commercial or residential heating.

5. Regulation

Governments around the world are putting regulations in place to improve the sustainability and resiliency of data centres. This in turn is making data centre operators implement new processes and procedures to meet the new requirements, highlighting how important IT is becoming to confront rising geopolitical tensions, cyberattacks and outsourcing to the cloud.

In January 2025, the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) will come into place, which requires businesses to develop and test business continuity plans. Any incidents must be reported by the company, otherwise businesses face fines for noncompliance.

4. Cloud/Hybrid Cloud

Hybrid cloud environments work to create new digital possibilities, whilst opening the door to cost-effective scalability, flexibility and modernisation. Put simply, a business is able to better save money whilst simultaneously increasing their speed and agility.

Plenty of businesses are continuing to work towards hybrid cloud solutions for their data centres. For instance, Microsoft Azure is a critical system that has been used this year to overhaul their data centres and improve their cloud-based strategies, with companies integrating their existing applications with Azure services.

3. Edge Computing

Edge computing can be defined as an edge data centre that is found closest to devices and end users as part of a distributed edge computing infrastructure. In contrast to traditional cloud computing, edge computing distributes computing resources closer to the data sources, or "edges" of the network which then offers several advantages, including reduced latency, improved bandwidth utilisation, and enhanced privacy and security.

Edge computing has emerged as a promising solution for big data management in 2024, notably because it reduces the distance information needs to travel.

2. Sustainability

Sustainability has become a crucial focus in the data centre industry, driven by increasing environmental concerns, regulatory pressures and the sector's significant energy consumption.

The global data centre landscape is changing, with regulators like the European Commission introducing new standards for businesses to report their sustainable progress. Notably, operators are obliged by May 2025 to provide the European database all sustainability information and KPUs for the data centres they operate, enterprise, colocation or otherwise.

Read more about how data centres can improve their sustainability progress HERE

1. AI

AI and machine learning has been under high demand in 2024, with data centre clients very keen to keep investing in the technology. In response, data centres are now having to come up with new and innovative solutions to ensure that their facilities have the capability to provide enough power and energy for AI.

This technology is working to revolutionise the data centre industry, offering new capabilities such as predictive analytics to help automate routine operations and streamline tasks. The integration of AI in data centres is revolutionising how facilities operate and is set to continue having a significant impact moving forward. 

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