Modern businesses store, distribute, and analyze their valuable data using various hardware and software tools. Advanced data centers make it possible for businesses irrespective of their sizes. This is a major reason why enterprises prefer data centers these days to ensure their growth. As technology evolves, many trends in data center modernization emerge to meet diverse needs.

In this post, we will go through some data center modernization trends. We will also dig deep into the challenges of data center modernization. Before moving ahead, let’s understand the concept and data center modernization benefits for your company.

What is Data Center Modernization?

Legacy or traditional data centers cannot handle challenges like massive rise in corporate data, intensifying competition, and stagnant budgets for the IT departments. As a result, Gartner has predicted that 80 percent of enterprises will close their traditional data centers by 2025. However, it does not mean that there will be no need for data centers from 2025 onward.

Modern data centers are all set to replace those siloed and slow-to-set-up legacy data centers that are expensive to maintain and update. Data center modernization refers to upgrading a data center to remain a highly efficient, agile, secure, and cost-effective tool for businesses. Trends in data center modernization will make businesses ready for the future.

In other words, data center modernization is a process of migrating current workloads to software-defined infrastructure for leveraging microservices, cloud, and automation. One of the biggest data center modernization benefits is it brings the necessary scalability and agility in business to survive and thrive in a competitive scenario. Let’s see some major drivers for modernization.

Key Drivers for Data Center Modernization

As IT workloads change rapidly, companies must consider data center modernization to address complex business challenges. Another factor is digital transformation. Most organizations tend to jump on the digital transformation bandwagon, but traditional data centers can prevent them from leveraging all the benefits. Data center modernization can be a robust solution that prepares them for the future.

However, if companies want to get all the benefits of data center modernization, the advancement of data centers remains a regular process. This is because data centers should remain capable of meeting or exceeding the complex requirements of workloads as businesses grow. As technology evolves rapidly, data centers may get outdated after 3 to 5 years, and therefore, data center modernization should be a regular process.

Let’s dig deep into the top trends in data center modernization.

Trends in Data Center Modernization

AI, 5G, and other emerging technologies can play a vital role in data center modernization. However, these technologies cost more energy consumption. As per the McKinsey prediction, the energy demand for modern data centers is expected to reach 35 GW by 2030.

Here we mention a few emerging and popular trends in data center modernization for the year 2024 and beyond.

Automation

Automation has gained ground swiftly amid labor shortage and other economical issues. This trend is prevalent in data center modernization and useful in automating various processes including monitoring, maintenance, application delivery, and scheduling. Automation can save the team’s time and enable employees to focus on other core activities.

Edge Computing

Increasing usage of connected devices has initiated this trend. These IoT devices generate massive amounts of data on-premises or in the cloud. It compels data center operators to go for powerful computing and storage facilities. Here, edge computing comes into the picture to reduce latency without compromising on user experiences.

Power Generation

As mentioned above, data center modernization will increase energy demand significantly over the period. It leads to grid modernization to meet the needs of future data centers, especially in remote areas and overseas locations. More transmission lines and convergency of various energy sources are also necessary for boosting power generation.

We can expect more trends in line with advancing technology in the future.

Challenges and Solutions in Data Center Modernization

Companies must address to leverage the benefits of data center modernization. Here we mention a few challenges with their solutions.

Legacy Infrastructure

Many data centers have outdated equipment that lacks the necessary agility and adaptability for trends like virtualization and cloud computing. This can lead to performance hiccups, scalability issues, and high maintenance costs. It is necessary to evaluate existing infrastructure, applications, and data flows to identify areas for improvement and potential risks. Along with this, companies can consider hybrid cloud models, infrastructure refresh, or a combination based on your specific needs and budget.

Data Security and Compliance

Migrating data and applications to a new environment makes them more vulnerable to data breaches and compliance violations. On the other hand, ensuring proper protocols and adhering to relevant regulations can be complex. You can implement robust security measures including data encryption, access controls, and vulnerability assessments throughout the project. Moreover, you can keep some budget for application and data security maintenance.

Downtime and Disruption

Prolonged downtime and frequent disruption in accessing data can create many problems and decrease productivity. Downtimes also result in a lack of trust and less engagement of employees and customers in your business model over the period. Careful planning, testing, and phased rollouts are essential to ensure a seamless transition and less downtime. Companies can develop contingency plans and test migration procedures to minimize downtime and ensure business continuity.

Cost and Budget Management

This is one of the biggest challenges of data center modernization. This process can be expensive requiring both careful planning and budget management. Moreover, enterprises find it difficult to balance long-term benefits and upfront costs.

As an entrepreneur, you can seek competitive bids from data center providers, leverage open-source solutions where possible, and track project expenses with your budget.

Skill Gaps and Expertise

Another major challenge in implementing new technologies and processes is they need specialized skills that existing IT staff might not possess. Training or hiring new personnel can add to project costs and complexity.

You can invest in training and increasing the expertise of your team. You can either upskill your IT staff or partner with experienced vendors to ensure a smooth process.

Organizations can accomplish data center modernization projects and achieve their desired outcomes by carefully addressing these challenges and implementing effective solutions.

Role of Artificial Intelligence in Data Center Operations

There is no exaggeration in mentioning that AI can drive a new era of data centers. Traditional data centers including multi-tenant data centers need to be upgraded as per AI technology. This technology not only demands newer equipment but also requires more power generation and liquid cooling capabilities. Companies that establish flexible infrastructure strategies to gain the advantage of AI can grow exponentially.

Concluding Remarks

Data center modernization has a crucial role to play in ensuring the growth of companies. It can increase scalability, agility, and adaptability when implementing different trends like edge computing. However, it is advisable to consult a reputed data center services provider to address some challenges of data center modernization and leverage its benefits for your enterprise.

At ModernWorkPlace, we address all the challenges of data center modernization to enable our corporate clients to leverage the benefits of technological advancements. Want to explore the scope of modern data centers for your company? Just send us an email with your workplace-related requirements at info@silvertouch.com and we will get back to you!