Although the data center industry is mostly aware of the EU’s Energy Efficiency Directive, Uptime Intelligence’s research suggests widespread confusion on specific components of the directive — and its implementation status.
Although the share of processing handled by the corporate or enterprise sector has declined over the years, it has never disappeared. But there are signs that it may reclaim a more central role.
For the past 15 years, the case for moving workloads out of enterprise data centers and into the cloud and colocation has been strong. Power availability and demand for high-density capacity may change that.
The past year warrants a revision of generative AI power estimates, as GPU shipments have skyrocketed, despite some offsetting factors. However, uncertainty remains high, with no clarity on the viability of these spending levels.
As AI workloads surge, managing cloud costs is becoming more vital than ever, requiring organizations to balance scalability with cost control. This is crucial to prevent runaway spend and ensure AI projects remain viable and profitable.
We hosted an exclusive briefing on the Uptime Institute Network — the global community of data center leaders dedicated to improving operational resilience, efficiency, and strategic planning.
Uptime Institute believes that data center operators should optimize facility-level sustainability performance before addressing ecosystem issues. A clear definition of data center sustainability is needed to enable this approach.
The US government’s AI compute diffusion rules, introduced in January 2025, will be rescinded — with new rules coming. It warns any dealings linked to advanced Chinese chips will require US export authorization. Operators still face tough demands.
IT operators lack a credible work-per-energy metric to report overall IT and facilities system efficiency. Developments in reporting IT equipment work capacities enable the industry to begin experimenting with this metric.
In the US, the politicization of data center development is underway, driven by its impact on power prices. As state governments seek ways to protect consumers, operators will need to engage in the policy debate.
Many operators expect GPUs to be highly utilized, but examples of real-world deployments paint a different picture. Why are expensive compute resources being wasted — and what effect does this have on data center power consumption?
Digital twins are increasingly valued in complex data center applications, such as designing and managing facilities for AI infrastructure. Digitally testing and simulating scenarios can reduce risk and cost, but many challenges remain.
The global tariff crisis initiated by the US administration is expected to have strong, long-lasting effects on the data center sector, driving up prices and slowing growth.
Data center builders who need power must navigate changing rules, unpredictable demands — and be prepared to trade.
The European Commission aims to ease climate risk reporting by removing mid-cap operators from CSRD's scope and delaying reports to 2028. But under current rules, 2025 reports are required and foreign-owned mid-cap operators stay covered.
Tomas Rahkonen
Andy Lawrence
Daniel Bizo
Owen Rogers
Matt Stansberry
Scott Killian
Jay Dietrich
Peter Judge
Max Smolaks
John O'Brien
Seb Shehadi