18 Challenges (And Solutions) On The Horizon

The majority of everyday users have little understanding of the role data centers play in the global technology system. But without data centers storing, processing and managing vast (and ever-growing) amounts of data, the digital services we rely on—from websites to apps and from generative AI to e-commerce—wouldn’t be possible.

As we increasingly depend on instantaneous access to data for work, commerce, research, entertainment and more, the challenges of maintaining sustainable, reliable data centers are growing, with the explosion in AI usage adding fuel to the fire. Fortunately, along with challenges are coming cutting-edge solutions (including some powered by—you guessed it—AI). Below, members of Forbes Technology Council discuss both the complications and innovations they see coming to data center management in the near term.

1. The Rise Of Specialty Cloud Providers

Launching new data centers is increasingly difficult due to power and grid constraints. Many enterprises cannot afford to expand or build new data centers, so specialty GPU and AI cloud providers have emerged to fill the gap, using renewable energy and advanced cooling technologies to keep costs low while providing faster, better networking. This will give them a competitive advantage over hyperscalers, for a time. – Liran Zvibel, WEKA

2. A Spike In Power Demand

One emerging data center trend is sustainability. Key studies predict that the demand for data center electricity will increase by anywhere from 160% to 200% by 2030, in part due to the rise of AI and cryptocurrency mining. Key strategies to mitigate this spike in power demand include developing more energy-efficient hardware, utilizing more renewable energy sources and optimizing current cooling systems. – Michael Dennis, CAS, a division of the American Chemical Society

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3. The Addition Of Renewable Energy Sources

The demand for AI is having a significant impact on delivering data center needs. The use of renewable energy (such as solar, wind and tidal) and liquid cooling is critical to ensuring a balance of growth and achieving sustainable and green IT charters for the future. – Mike Kiersey, Workato

4. AI Racks Will Test Power Limits

Toward the end of five years, the industry will be deploying AI server racks with densities over 200 kw per rack. We can actually cool those densities with the liquid cooling technologies that we have today, but getting that much power to the rack exceeds the physical limits of today’s copper busbar and wires. Voltages need to rise to 1000 or 1500 V (probably DC). – Steven Carlini, Schneider Electric

5. Need To Optimize Software And Hardware

The power demands of data centers will continue to increase exponentially over the next five years. This is a huge issue for both the planet and data center builders and operators. Data centers exist to run software (including distributed ledger technology and AI). It will become increasingly important to understand and optimize the performance of both software and hardware to ensure power and sustainability considerations are met. – Christopher Dean, Digital Tactics Ltd.

6. Workforce Shortages

One major emerging trend is the need to address workforce shortages, especially in roles critical for physical data center operations like HVAC and infrastructure engineering. With the existing workforce maturing and fewer people entering these fields, the industry faces a talent gap that must be filled to maintain growth over the next five years. – Ryan Mallory, Flexential

7. The Integration Of Quantum Computers

Early fault-tolerant quantum computers capable of performing computations beyond the capability of the most powerful supercomputers will become a reality within the next five years. Integration of these systems into high-performance computing data centers will be an increasing trend over the next few years. Early applications will include chemistry simulation, materials science research and new AI algorithms. – Paul Lipman, Infleqtion

8. A Growth In Edge Computing

New applications and data volumes are placing rigorous demands on data centers. The growth of edge computing will play a big role in solving these issues. Keeping data and processing power closer to the source enhances both performance (latency) and efficiency (capacity and power demands). There is no one-size-fits-all solution, but edge computing will help and is a trend to follow. – Scott Williams, Orange Business

9. Bioengineered Cooling Solutions

Bioengineered cooling solutions will emerge as a revolutionary trend. We’ll see data centers utilizing genetically modified microorganisms to manage heat dissipation and even convert waste heat into usable energy. This fusion of biotechnology and computing infrastructure could redefine what we consider “green” data centers. – Marc Fischer, Dogtown Media LLC

10. More Secure Chip Design

Cyberattacks remain a critical challenge for the next decade, driving demand for advanced chip-level security. Hyperscalers are advancing projects like OpenTitan to create secure, trustworthy chip designs. This ensures both hardware and software integrity, enabling secure boot processes with verified firmware and protecting against low-level malware, significantly boosting data center resilience. – Dipesh Ranjan, Cyble, Inc.

11. Real-Time Energy Monitoring And Management

With energy demands projected to grow annually, the industry must ensure sufficient energy availability to sustain growth. As power needs surge, the risk of shortages could hinder AI-driven advancements. This will drive the rise of technology that enhances real-time energy monitoring and demand management, helping data centers operate within grid constraints while preserving capacity for innovation. – Jennifer Nuckles, R-Zero

12. A Focus On Error-Correction And Software-Hardware Co-Design

Moving data at faster speeds and running chips in environments with higher power densities and more heat lead to more errors, which impact uptime and the accuracy and quality of results. Hardware components must include more error-correction features, and there must be better co-design between software and hardware to build more resilient systems that improve uptime through techniques like fail-in-place. – Steven Woo, Rambus

13. Use Of AI To Improve Energy Efficiency

There’s a lot of talk about how the use of AI leads to high energy consumption. However, what we also need to think about is that there will be a lot of innovation focused on leveraging AI to not only bring energy consumption down, but also to dramatically improve data center energy efficiency in general. – Abdul Muqtadir Mohammed Zubair, Snapchat

14. On-Site Power Generation

Instead of relying solely on the centralized grid, data centers are turning to decentralized energy solutions, including islanded microgrid solutions, to solve time-to-power issues and handle the highly fluctuating loads of AI data centers. By generating power on-site, these systems reduce dependency on external energy sources to enhance resilience, predict costs and reduce environmental impact. – Ravi Prasher, Bloom Energy

15. Intelligent Hardware Security

As data centers become an increasingly hot target for cybercriminals, a major trend will be the integration of intelligent hardware security into data centers. This approach provides holistic and proactive security against dynamic threats, ranging from physical on-site protection within each server rack to real-time monitoring, detection and recovery, ensuring business continuity and heightened security. – Camellia Chan, Flexxon

16. A Shift To The Cloud

An emerging trend in data centers is the push to virtualize and move as many operations to the cloud as possible. This shift reduces risk and operational burden while transferring critical security responsibilities to third-party experts. As a result, organizations can focus more on innovation and less on costly infrastructure management. – Matthew Polega, Mark43

17. Flash Storage For Backup And Recovery

There’s been a shift in data protection strategies, with businesses increasingly turning to flash storage for backup and rapid recovery. Since ransomware attacks may be unavoidable, the focus has shifted to minimizing their impact by restoring operations swiftly. This strategy reduces downtime and boosts cyber resilience, making flash storage a cornerstone of future-ready data protection strategies. – Jamie Lerner, Quantum Corporation

18. The Rise Of Zero-Trust Architecture

One emerging trend in data centers that’s set to reshape the industry is the rise of zero-trust architecture paired with more adaptive, AI-driven security protocols. With cyberthreats evolving daily, these technologies will ensure that every bit of data—from core to edge—remains protected, making security the cornerstone of data center innovation. – Siranjeevi Dheenadhayalan