Data Centers Of The Future

The face of data centers is forever evolving fueled by emerging technologies like 5G.

Though uncertain because of the dynamism, future data centers will inevitably require adequate processing power—locally, in the cloud, and at the edge. This will ensure the effective management of the new challenges around bandwidth, security, and technology.

At the #CIOYearAhead, Carol Koech, the Country President East Africa at Schneider, intimated that data centers are taking advantage of the most trending technologies to become better hubs of information.

“Tools like AI, advanced analytics, 5G, edge computing, and innovation are the trends toward increasing the speed, capacity, and reliability of data centers,” she noted. Adding, “Technology leaders and engineers must now reimagine the data center to stay in the race.”

As reported by a Forbes Insights Survey, 5G-fueled hyperconnectivity expands enterprise networks and moves data processing to the edge, powering business operations through the growing Internet of Things and leaving businesses to transform.

The report further states that future data centers will enhance the decentralisation—moving data, processing, and resources away from the organisation’s local data centre or corporate hub, out as far as edge devices — to enable faster processing.

So what trends should we watch out for in 2021 and beyond?

The Dataspan Blog anticipates that much of future data center adaptations will involve the maximization of uptime, energy efficiency, and safety. Remote operation, strategic data center locations, and AI will come to the forefront.

The new trends as it reports include; Human-Free Data Centers, Future Data Centers Will Use All Available Space, and Artificial Intelligence’s Involvement in Data Center Evolution among other foreseeable trends in that space.

“The data centres of the future are the foundation to a new, all-electric and all-digital world. They have to be handled in an environmentally friendly way,” Koech added. “We need to adapt to the new opportunities in the data centres and the edge.”

She further intimated that Schneider Electric has built competencies across different segments and markets and is positioned for the future.