Will 2016 be the year that cloud kills the data center? Will the race to the edge continue? Following are my predictions for the trends I expect to dominate the data center industry in 2016.

1. /in/ronvokoun @ronvokoun
Ron Vokoun
Director
Mission Critical Design
RK Mission Critical
@WeAreRK

2. 1. The Year of Modular
Modular no longer has to have
the negative connotations
associated with constraining
containers thanks to new
concepts on the market.
With open white space and
ceiling heights of traditional
construction – plus
speed to market, scalability
and accelerated depreciation
– the market paradigm is poised
to shift.
image: Centercore

3. “The modular approach to data
center design, construction and
delivery to the end-user is
long past due.
The old paradigms of traditional
raised floor data center design
and/or the ‘build it all out and
then fill it’ models are simply
ineffective and wasteful capital
management.”
~ Robert McClary
SVP & GM, FORTRUST Data Centers
@RobertMcClaryFT
image: Twitter

4. 2. Retail and Wholesale
Colocation Merge
Wholesale players are coming
down as far as 250 kW.
Meanwhile traditional retail
players are signing customers
into the multi-megawatt range,
while offering the same array of
managed services.

5. 3. The Race to the Edge
Will Continue
With our never-ending appetite
for content, the race to the edge
will continue with more players
joining in.
The next frontier will be mobile,
where more and more people
are accessing their content.

6. 4. DCIM Adoption Will Continue Slow & Steady
Hype alone cannot sustain the 70+ DCIM companies. There is
too much noise in the market. Adoption will be slow until the
market shakes out and there are more visible success stories.

7. 5. Renewable Energy
Adoption Will
Accelerate
Renewable energy has matured
to the point it is no longer a
marketing gimmick, but
is now a competitive advantage
in the colocation market.
Who wouldn’t want to lock
power rates for 20 years?
Image: Energy4Cities

8. “Data runs the planet, which is why
Switch SUPERNAP wants to ensure
data doesn’t ruin the planet.
Switch has always been focused on
efficiency and sustainability inside
of the data center, and for nearly
18 months we worked with our
local utility and regulators to
design a renewable energy tariff in
southern Nevada that would allow
us to construct one of the largest
private solar projects in the world
so we could achieve our goal of
being 100% renewably powered.”
~ Adam Kramer
EVP of Strategy, Switch
@AdamInNevada
image: UP Global

9. 6. TCO Loses Ground
It defies logic, but there has been
a movement back towards
pure CapEx-driven decisions.
Kudos to those that understand
the benefits of energy efficiency,
accelerated depreciation and
other financial factors.
image: Supply Technologies

10. 7. Water Usage Rises in
Importance
Given water is the most
subsidized and underpriced
utility in the US, it will become a
larger factor in TCO. But that isn’t
the reason it rises in importance
in data center design.
Risk mitigation will be the reason
water usage climbs the ladder of
design considerations.
image: bit-tech

11. 8. Ghetto Colo Becomes a
Product Offering
Lower levels of redundancy has become a
product offering.
Whether it be bitcoin miners or a research
cluster, there are many instances that do
not require anything more than street
power.
Look for more service providers to follow
suit.
image: Gillaspy

12. “Every other layer in the
IT stack has adopted a
use-based pricing model -
except the data center.
Aligned is bringing the first
pay-for-use, consumption-
based pricing model to the
data center.”
~ Jason Ferrara
CMO, Aligned Energy
in/jasonjohnferrara

13. 9. The Rise of the
Data Center Density
Power densities were relatively
flat in 2015 with some trending
upward toward the end of the
year. This trend will continue
with a steady rise in density
across all market sectors.
Legacy equipment is finding its
way out of enterprise data
centers, giving way to new
equipment capable of more
computing in a smaller footprint.
image: IT World

14. 10. Hybrid IT Rules
The Day
Many have predicted that public
cloud would dominate the IT
landscape. Although usage is
rising sharply, it is nowhere near
the IT market share some
predicted.
Given the massive growth of IT
and data in general, there is
room for everyone.
image: Forbes

15. These are my fearless predictions for
the data center market in 2016. You
can also see how I did with my 2015
predictions on LinkedIn Pulse.
I’m interested in your thoughts.
Please share your comments and let
the debate continue.
Ron Vokoun
Director of Mission Critical Design, RK Mission Critical
@RonVokoun
This article originally appeared on Data Center Dynamics