Corporate data centers keep losing workload share to colocation and cloud providers
“All of these are linked, and they’re all linked through AI,” Andy Lawrence, Uptime’s executive director of research, said during a webinar discussing the findings. “The pressures it’s putting on the entire supply chain, the cost base, the availability of power—all of these are being driven by this massive surge in demand for AI infrastructure.”
Cost pressures ease, AI creates new challenges
Cost remains management’s top concern for the fourth straight year, with 79% of respondents saying executives are at least somewhat concerned. But the share describing management as “very concerned” fell to 38%, from 44% last year.
The results suggest operators are balancing cost concerns against a broader set of AI-related challenges. Concern about forecasting future capacity requirements climbed to 76%, while supply-chain disruptions, staffing shortages, power availability, and meeting AI infrastructure needs all ranked among management’s leading worries.
