From surging AI adoption to the ever-rising push for sustainability, 2025 promises another transformative year for data centres, according to Terry Storrar, Managing Director UK at Leaseweb.
2024 has been another turbulent year with ongoing conflict in Europe, Africa and the Middle East causing friction and uncertainty. In the technological sphere, AI has continued its all-consuming takeover of the industry, upending long established norms and threatening countless white collar jobs.
With 2025 now having just begun, it is time to look forward and try to divine what the year ahead might have in store. Here are some of the key trends to watch out for in the data centre sector.
Power demand
Demand for higher power and density is always growing but it has been supercharged by AI, bringing GPUs into sharper focus. Being able to provide controlled power in a denser environment is critical to supplying what the customers want. That’s why data centres are considering density spaces that greatly outpace previous kilowattage. However, there must also be a renewed commitment to cooling and sustainability.
We are unlikely to see much that is entirely new at the back end; instead supplying higher compute in the same footprint is the main objective.
AI driving data centre efficiencies
As noted, AI has had an enormous impact on the wider industry and the data centre itself and we fully expect it to continue its stellar growth in 2025. From an operational perspective, a new range of AI tools will emerge that can maximise efficiencies while minimising energy consumption.
AI-driven analytics will provide deeper insights into energy usage patterns, allowing for more effective power management strategies. When it comes to resolving the challenges presented by data centre power requirements, harnessing data through AI-enabled reporting will play a key role. This approach will not only reduce costs but also contribute to sustainability efforts by significantly lowering the carbon footprint of data centres.
Sustainability
Insatiable demand is driving the creation of ever more powerful servers and investment in areas such as cooling is considerable. That means there are a number of new systems such as water-cooling servers and fully water-cooled racks to handle limited energy resources more effectively. We also need to take advantage of renewable energy sources, notably wind and solar, while exploring the potential of carbon neutralisation.
And we need to demonstrate we are doing it: from a customer perspective, environmental, sustainability and compliance credentials are a critical factor when choosing a data centre partner. That means adhering to ISO 14001:2015 and keeping up to date with the latest accreditations. There was until recently a perception that green credentials are not top priority but I can assure you that they are front of mind during the tender process and that will not change in the coming year.
Provisioning for more cloud models
This is a time of flux when it comes to business models as many organisations are repatriating their services from the cloud back to more traditional IT platforms. Cloud repatriation is further evidence of how companies are taking advantage of versatile hybrid cloud models tailored to their specific needs.
Not so long ago, there was considerable conversation around whether public clouds were fit for purpose, with escalating usage costs, migration obstacles and customer service all called out as barriers to success. Today, there remains concern around contract tie-ins and lack of simple migration between environments. Therefore, multi-cloud environments will become increasingly popular in the coming year, allowing for optimised and personalised cloud models. Businesses should always consider the best location for each workload, helping to structure the more flexible IT infrastructures to come.
Data sovereignty
Data sovereignty has been a talking point for a few years now and 2025 will be no different. Cloud providers must keep up to date on how world politics and sensitivities can affect how and where data is stored, so they have the right provision built into customer models. For global companies, it is usually easy to keep data in its country of origin if required, however for smaller operators, it becomes more complex.
It is also worth keeping an eye on wider data sovereignty initiatives, such as the European Cloud Campus. This aims to develop AI and cloud applications that work on EU-based data, strengthening the European Commission’s commitment to a sovereign European cloud. Taking part in projects like this will become more popular in 2025.
Innovation reawakened
The events of 2024, including elections in which billions voted and ongoing conflict in multiple zones, have drained the momentum from innovation in certain areas, including AI and biometrics.
In 2025, we expect more stability to inspire more confidence in a reinvigorated industry. Taken as a whole, the data centre sector must find a balance between sustainability, innovation and investing in the best tools to enable the increased power demands 2025 will bring. Now is the time to prepare for whatever the year has in store.
