From AI, Sustainability, and the Cloud: Central Developments in the Data Center Industry
Data centers form the backbone of the digital world – and their transformation is progressing rapidly. New technologies such as generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), increasing sustainability requirements, and growing interconnectivity are fundamentally changing the demands on infrastructure and operations. The current industry report by S Global Market Intelligence provides a well-founded outlook on the central developments for the year 2025. The report was created based on a survey of IT experts and decision-makers.
What do these trends mean for data center operators, cloud providers, and companies relying on managed services? Here, we summarize the ten most important trends from the industry report – and analyze what this means for the industry and upcoming challenges.
Top 10 Data Center Trends for 2025 at a Glance
1. AI leads to high energy demand
The strong demand for GenAI applications is leading to a race for available power capacities – sometimes in the gigawatt range.
2. Sustainability comes under pressure
The growing power consumption is challenging existing climate goals and delaying coal phase-out in some places.
3. Supply chains remain critical
Longer delivery times for transformers, generators, and cooling technology can delay data center construction.
4. Liquid cooling on the rise
Liquid cooling is increasingly becoming established to efficiently operate high rack densities and AI hardware.
5. Hyperscalers drive colocation demand
Despite their own buildings, public cloud providers remain the key customers for rented data center capacities.
6. New operator and financing models
Energy providers and investors are becoming more involved – vertically integrated models are gaining importance.
7. Interconnection as a key factor
The demand for direct connection to clouds, partners, and services remains a main reason for colocation.
8. Edge data centers on the rise
Real-time applications and AI inferencing require decentralized IT infrastructure closer to the user.
9. AI optimizes operations
AI-supported tools for infrastructure monitoring (DCIM) help save energy and detect failures early.
10. Crypto workloads in transition
Mining companies are increasingly building AI-capable data centers – but also offer volatility risks.
What Does This Mean for Operators and IT Decision-Makers?
For companies relying on data centers and managed services, the requirements are increasing significantly. Energy efficiency, location selection, cooling concepts, and scalability are increasingly becoming strategic factors. At the same time, new technologies such as liquid cooling, AI-supported management, and edge computing open up attractive opportunities for innovations in operations.
The colocation market also remains dynamic: hyperscalers, medium-sized businesses, and industry solutions are increasingly competing for flexible, well-connected infrastructure. Operators like firstcolo offer decisive added value here – through proximity to locations, high interconnection density, and individual service concepts.
Conclusion:
2025 will be a key year for the further development of data centers. Driven by AI, sustainability, and changing user requirements, operators and customers alike face a transformation – but one that also offers room for innovation and efficiency gains. Those who invest early in future-proof technologies and respond flexibly to new requirements will benefit in the long term.
Download the Report
The full English-language report is available for download here: S Global Market Intelligence “2025 Trends in Datacenter Services Infrastructure”.
