Vertiv Forecasts AI-Driven Trends Shaping the Data Center Industry in 2024

The data center industry faces pressing demands for artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities in 2024, alongside the imperative to reduce energy consumption, costs, and greenhouse gas emissions.

Vertiv, a global provider of critical digital infrastructure and continuity solutions, predicts that the proliferation of AI will significantly impact data center trends this year.

Giordano (Gio) Albertazzi, CEO of Vertiv, acknowledges the dominant role of AI in shaping data center operations and highlights the need for collaborative efforts among data centers, chip and server manufacturers, and infrastructure providers to address the associated challenges.

Key trends expected to shape the data center ecosystem in 2024 include:

1. AI driving new builds and retrofits: The surge in AI demand necessitates significant changes in data center operations, prompting organizations to consider new construction or large-scale retrofits. These changes provide opportunities to adopt eco-friendly technologies such as liquid cooling for AI servers.
2. Exploration of energy storage alternatives: Organizations are exploring new energy storage technologies to integrate with the grid, reduce generator starts, and minimize environmental impact. Battery energy storage systems (BESS) are expected to become more common in 2024, supporting extended runtime demands and integrating seamlessly with alternative energy sources.
3. Enterprise prioritization of flexibility: While cloud and colocation providers expand to meet demand, enterprises with data centers are diversifying investments and deployment strategies. Organizations are prioritizing incremental investment, service, and maintenance to extend the life of legacy equipment and optimize energy efficiency.
4. Security challenges in the cloud migration race: The mass migration to the cloud continues, with cloud providers turning to colocation partners to support capacity expansion. However, security remains a top concern for cloud customers, leading to increased spending on cyber/information security. Complex security challenges arise from disparate data security regulations, requiring standardization efforts.

Paul Churchill, vice president and general manager at Vertiv Asia, emphasizes the importance of harnessing AI technology and offers Vertiv’s solutions to help customers manage AI integration challenges, ensuring efficient and sustainable IT systems.

Original source; asiamanufacturingnewstoday.com