5 Cloud Computing Trends that Will Impact Data Centers in 2025

More than a few folks – including some right here on Data Center Knowledge – have offered predictions about cloud computing trends to watch in 2025. Most such predictions articles discuss the cloud for the cloud’s sake, focusing on topics like new types of public cloud services and cloud architecture trends.

I’m here to offer a 2025 cloud computing predictions piece with a different angle: One that centers on the cloud’s impact on data centers. And I’m not talking here just about the data centers that host cloud infrastructure, but rather the data center industry as a whole.

So, keep reading for my take on what’s ahead in the realm of the cloud, and what it means for data centers everywhere.

1. Cloud-Based AI increases Demand for Energy-Efficient Data Centers

If there’s one seemingly safe bet about how the cloud will impact data centers in 2025, it’s that growing deployments of AI workloads in the cloud will lead to more pressure on data center operators to improve energy efficiency.

The reason why is simple: AI (especially generative AI) is energy-hungry – so much so that some analysts believe utility providers won’t be able to supply enough electricity to power AI without major infrastructure upgrades.

Increasing the energy efficiency of data centers probably won’t be enough to eliminate these challenges, but it could help mitigate them. The more efficiently data centers use power, the more electricity they’ll be able to devote to workloads. For that reason, expect to be hearing more in 2025 about topics like improving the PUE of data centers.

Related:How LLMs on the Edge Could Help Solve the AI Data Center Problem

2. Cloud Quantum Services Drive Interest in Quantum Data Centers

Overall, I’m bearish about how close we are to having quantum computers that are stable enough for real-world use. But steady advancements in quantum technology – including Google’s recent unveiling of a new type of quantum chip – are driving increased interest in quantum possibilities.

And while most organizations are not in a position to build their own quantum computers, they can experiment with quantum via cloud-based quantum services. This means that public cloud providers may see reason to invest more extensively in quantum data centers in 2025, as a means of expanding their collections of quantum services.

3. Cloud Performance Expectations Increase Importance of Interconnects

The bar for what counts as “good” levels of performance and reliability from cloud-based workloads gets higher and higher all the time. From a cloud hardware perspective, there’s not much room left for improvement on this front because cloud servers are already optimized for performance.

Related:DOE Report Exposes Critical Impact of AI on Data Center Power Consumption

Instead, the weakest link in cloud performance in many cases is the network. It doesn’t matter how fast your servers or applications are if they can’t move data over the network quickly enough to meet user expectations.

That’s why I expect data center interconnections to be a trendy topic in 2025 and beyond. Interconnects boost network performance when moving packets between data centers, making them a critical tool for supercharging cloud performance.

4. Cloud Sustainability Concerns Drive Increased Focus on Data Center WUE

Sustainability has been a hot topic in the cloud ecosystem for years. Promises by cloud providers to become more sustainable are not new.

But whereas much of the cloud sustainability conversation has historically centered on energy efficiency and clean energy sourcing, I suspect that we’ll see growing interest in water usage by cloud providers, too, in 2025 and beyond.

Cloud providers have begun talking about Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE) in recent years, and I expect that that conversation will intensify, due especially to ongoing water shortages in many of the places that are home to data centers.

5. New Cloud Compliance Rules Require New Data Center Controls

Related:Top 10 Cloud Data Center Stories of 2024

The cloud compliance landscape is changing rapidly due to the introduction of new compliance frameworks, like NIS 2 and DORA. Data centers have an important role to play in helping cloud providers to meet these requirements, particularly when it comes to ensuring physical security.

Data center security has always been important, of course. But as compliance mandates intensify, so will the pressure that data center operators face to make security protections as strong as possible.