With so much going on in the industry, CRN breaks down the ten biggest data center trends you need to be aware of. From as-a-service and private equity spending to Dell Technologies and Intel, here are ten of the most important data center trends and technologies you should be following in 2021. Our summary of the article is as follows:
1. Data Center As-A-Service Has Arrived, Targets Public Clouds
One of the biggest data center trend in 2021 is the momentum towards the new way customers want to buy and maintain data center solutions, being consumption-based, pay-per-use. While the leading public cloud providers have already been successfully offering consumption-based cloud IT for years, the leading data center infrastructure providers like HP and Dell are doubling down unlike ever before.
2. AWS, Microsoft, Google Spending And Expanding Like Never Before
These public cloud titans are spending billions each quarter on building and equipping new hyperscale data centers across the world to extend their cloud services reach. In fact, collectively today they represent over 50% of the world’s largest data centers and will continue to spend billions throughout 2021 to increase market reach.
3. Data Center Spending Picks Back up. Will Hit $237 Billion
The global data center systems market will reach $237 billion in 2021, representing an increase of more than 7 percent year over year according to IT research firm Gartner’s most recent IT spending forecast.
4. Intel Vs. AMD Driving Data Center CPUs Innovation
Intel, the longtime leader in data center server CPUs, is now facing stiff competition with AMD on a global scale. With server CPUs innovation reaching all-time highs due to competition, new use cases and services opportunities in the data center are opening up.
5. Nvidia To Become A Data Center Powerhouse
In April, Nvidia unveiled an Arm-based data center CPU for AI and high-performance computing it says will provide 10 times faster AI performance than one of AMD’s fastest EPYC CPUs, a move that will give the Nvidia control over compute, acceleration and networking components in servers. This has the potential to disrupt the entire data center market over the next few years through next-level data center innovation.
6. Increase In Automation And Robotics Deployments
The global pandemic has accelerated the need to make data center operations less reliant on human intervention aided by the influx of innovation around software automation and artificial intelligence. Organizations are investing in automation and robotics in the data center so employees can bring more value elsewhere to the business.
7. Private Equity Pumps more Money into Data Centers
From private equity firms acquiring data center companies to investing billions to help data center providers scale, in 2021 global investors perceive data centers as one of the best ways to make money as demand for cloud services and remote working skyrockets.
8. Enterprises Pick Cloud Infrastructure Services Over Data Center Products
Enterprises spent $130 billion on cloud infrastructure services globally in 2020, blowing by the $90 billion enterprises spent on data center products. In 2019 the two market segments of cloud infrastructure services and data center hardware and software were almost equal in size at roughly $95 billion each. Enterprises will continue to spend on cloud infrastructure services compared to, in most cases, traditional data center solutions in 2021 as COVID-19 forced many to rapidly shift to the public cloud.
9. Green Data Centers; Sustainability Taking Center Stage
In 2021, data center sustainability has become front and center for enterprise customers which is raising the bar for the entire industry. The data center industry is in a unique position to accelerate the adoption of sustainable practices like renewable energy and using lithium-ion batteries to reduce climate change at a global level. Data center operators will invest in buying and creating more sustainable products from liquid cooling to undersea data centers.
10. All Eyes On The Edge
Edge-specific data center providers like EdgeConneX are sprouting up while market leading infrastructure and power vendors are creating edge-specific products at rapid pace and scale. The massive investments from the biggest tech conglomerates show there is a ton of expansion and market opportunities coming to the edge data center market in 2021 and beyond.
