Data Centre Industry 2021: Emerging Trends & Operator Challenges

Alessandro Bruschini, Infrastructure Manager at Aruba

The global COVID‑19 pandemic continues to reshape the data‑centre sector. Overnight, demand for web‑enabled and digital services surged as people worldwide turned to their homes. Organisations that had previously been hesitant to embrace digital transformation now find themselves accelerating cloud adoption, straining data‑centre capacity and data‑management capabilities, observes Bruschini.

That surge is not a one‑off event. Forecasts show that by 2025, data‑centres will handle over 175 zettabytes of data—a volume that underscores the need for exponential growth in capacity and bandwidth. The industry must therefore rethink infrastructure, investment, and expansion strategies—especially as sustainability becomes a core competitive advantage.

Too Much Data to Handle

According to CB Insights, data‑centres remain pivotal for ingesting, computing, storing, and managing information. The COVID‑19 era amplified data growth as businesses, employees, and students migrated online, driving record‑high consumption.

Operators who paused campus development in response to short‑term demands risk long‑term bottlenecks. It is now critical to resume capacity building. Aruba, for instance, is extending its 200,000‑square‑metre campus in Ponte San Pietro, Milan, with two new facilities—DC‑B and DC‑C—to meet this demand.

Bigger Focus on Power Demand

Climate change has foregrounded the need for energy efficiency in data‑centres. IEA reports that data‑centres account for about 1 % of global electricity use today, with projections of 20 % by 2025, driven by media streaming and broadband traffic.

Businesses are now treating sustainability as a business imperative. While green power is often pricier, the long‑term goal is to build data‑centres that are both cost‑effective and low‑carbon. Advances in design and technology promise higher capacity, speed, and reliability without sacrificing the environment.

Renewables and Sustainability Are the Next Frontier

Power generation and consumption must both be optimized. Transport losses from distant renewable plants can erode efficiency gains. Producing renewable energy on or near the data‑centre—such as hydroelectric plants within the same campus—minimises transmission loss and cost.

Aruba exemplifies this approach. Its Global Cloud Data Centre in Ponte San Pietro hosts an on‑site hydroelectric plant, and the company recently acquired Idroelettrica Veneta S.p.A., adding four new hydro plants. Complementary geothermal cooling further reduces energy consumption by tapping underground cold water.

Moving Forward: A Unified Commitment to Climate Neutrality

The EU Commission’s 2020 report, “Shaping Europe’s Digital Future,” calls for climate neutrality by 2030, urging data‑centres to enhance energy efficiency, reuse waste heat, and adopt renewable sources.

In line with this vision, 25 data‑centre and cloud providers, plus 17 industry associations, have signed the Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact—an industry‑driven, self‑regulated pledge to achieve carbon neutrality across Europe.

Author: Alessandro Bruschini, Infrastructure Manager at Aruba.