As is my usual practice for the annual predictions column, I queried the official Hot Aisle Insight virtual crystal ball for guidance on trends and developments that dominate in the coming year, especially since 2020 begins a new decade. This time, it did not respond, which concerned me, since I just changed its security settings, allowing it to auto-update its own highly advanced, Hot Aisle Insight artificial intelligence engine. Instead, the orb turned blue, so perhaps it may have inadvertently downloaded the last Microsoft Windows 7 patches. Evidently, it will need more development (by humans) and should not be left unsupervised. Therefore, I was forced to write this article without AI augmentation, using traditional “OK Boomer” research methodology (assuming manually typing in the Google search bar is considered traditional).
While I usually try to predict which technology developments and trends will influence the course of data centers for the coming year, I believe we all need to look at this in a broader perspective — beyond the nuts and bolts of the data center. Clearly, this past year has seen much more general public awareness, avocation, opinions, and polarization regarding the impact and sources of climate change on many fronts, renewable energy, material sustainability, and even types of foods and the food chain. Yet, despite that, society demands ever more technology-driven services, which require tons more IT hardware and, of course, data centers to house all the IT equipment.