Uptime’s 14th Annual Global Data Center Survey Results Show Expanding Industry Planning for Major Technological, Economic and Operational Changes

Demand for Digital Services Continues Growth Both in Volume and Compute Intensity

Uptime Institute today announced the release of its 14th Annual Global Data Center survey. The increased demand for digital services with both volume and compute intensity is challenging the power and cooling capabilities of much of the existing infrastructure. To meet the rising demand, data center operators and their IT clients are both investing and innovating more in their IT services and facilities and using external services. The effectiveness and impact of these investments will serve to shape the industry in the years ahead.

“Our data shows operators poised for major changes ahead on multiple levels,” said Andy Lawrence, executive director of research, Uptime Intelligence. “In 2024, we see the challenges of increased demand impacting power and cooling capabilities of existing facilities and the need for further investment to keep up with the demand. At the same time the industry needs to focus on continued staffing challenges to match capacity growth. And regulatory requirements are here and cannot be dismissed.”

Now in its 14th year, Uptime Institute’s annual survey remains the most comprehensive and longest-running study of its kind. The findings of this report highlight the practices and experiences of data center owners and operators in the areas of resiliency, sustainability, efficiency, staffing, cloud and artificial intelligence. It provides detailed insights into the digital infrastructure landscape and a view into its future trajectory. Key findings from the 2024 report include:

Fewer than one half of data center owners and operators are tracking the metrics needed to assess their sustainability and/or meet pending regulatory requirements.

Most operators recognize the benefits of AI and its potential. But despite many operators planning to host the technology, trust in AI for use in data center operations has declined for the third year in a row.

The frequency and severity of data center outages remain mainly unchanged from 2023 or show small improvements. Operators are countering increases in complexity, density and extreme weather with investment and good management practices.

Average server rack densities are increasing but remain below 8 kilowatts (kW). Most facilities do not have racks above 30kW, and those that do have only a few. This is expected to change in coming years.

Enterprises continue to meet their IT needs with hybrid architectures. More than one half of workloads (45%) are now off-premises, continuing the gradual trend of recent years. Many continued to maintain their own data centers.

Staffing challenges have neither improved nor worsened from 2023. More effort is needed to expand labor pools and skillsets to match the pace of capacity growth.

Average PUE levels remain mostly flat for the fifth consecutive year, but this conceals advances in newer, larger facilities.