Industry Leader Vertiv Forecasts Major Shifts
In the lead-up to 2024, the data centre industry faces a dual challenge of meeting the burgeoning demand for artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities while navigating the imperative to reduce energy consumption, costs, and greenhouse gas emissions. Global provider Vertiv (NYSE: VRT) forecasts pivotal trends, highlighting the transformative impact of AI on data centre densities and power demands.
CEO Highlights Dominant Storylines
Vertiv CEO Giordano Albertazzi underscores the dominance of AI and its downstream effects on data centre operations. Addressing the critical need to support AI demand while minimising environmental impact, Albertazzi emphasizes the necessity for collaborations between data centres, chip and server manufacturers, and infrastructure providers.
Key Trends for 2024 Unveiled
Vertiv’s experts predict several trends that will shape the data centre landscape in 2024:
- AI Dictates Construction and Retrofitting Strategies:
The escalating demand for AI applications prompts organizations to overhaul their operations. Ill-prepared for high-density AI computing, legacy facilities will witness a surge in new construction and large-scale retrofits. Prefabricated modular solutions will gain prominence, facilitating quicker deployments and offering opportunities to adopt eco-friendly technologies such as liquid cooling.
- Diversification in Energy Storage Solutions:
A quest for energy storage alternatives intensifies, with a focus on technologies seamlessly integrating with the grid. Battery energy storage systems (BESS) gain traction, supporting extended runtime demands and reducing reliance on generators. BESS installations are expected to increase in 2024, evolving towards “bring your own power” (BYOP) models to meet the demands of AI-driven applications.
- Enterprise Emphasis on Flexibility:
Amidst the cloud and colocation providers’ push for expansions, enterprises managing their data centres will diversify investments. The impact of AI on sustainability objectives prompts organizations to consider on-premise capacity for proprietary AI applications. Prefabricated modular solutions are pivotal in incremental investments, while service and maintenance strategies optimize legacy equipment, enhancing energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions.
- Security Challenges in Cloud Migration Race:
Gartner’s projection of a 20.4% increase in global spending on public cloud services in 2024 indicates a continued mass migration to the cloud. Cloud providers, grappling with the need for rapid capacity expansion to support AI and high-performance computing, turn to global colocation partners. However, security concerns become paramount as data migration intensifies. Disparate national and regional data security regulations pose complex challenges, necessitating efforts to standardize security measures. According to Gartner, 80% of CIOs plan to increase spending on cyber/information security in response to these challenges.
