Operations | Monitoring | ITSM | DevOps | Cloud

The pace of change in data center operations shows no sign of slowing, and 2026 is shaping up to be another year of rapid evolution. AI-driven demand is accelerating, hybrid architectures are growing more complex, and capacity constraints are forcing teams to rethink how they plan and operate their environments. Against this backdrop, data center professionals are reassessing the tools, processes, and strategies they rely on every day.

Compliance requirements and rising risk standards have raised the stakes for data centre security. Without assurance that facilities can resist disruption and protect data, organisations face increased exposure to audit failure, downtime, and reputational damage. For executives and auditors, data centre security is part of wider governance and risk management. Oversight means confirming that physical safeguards, environmental systems, and compliance frameworks are in place and can be trusted.

Managing IT for Witherslack Group does keep me up at night sometimes. Keeping our data secure is an ongoing challenge. When I say our data is sensitive, I mean a breach could genuinely destroy lives. We care for some of the UK's most vulnerable children: young people who have experienced sexual exploitation, kids whose parents cannot know their location, children from backgrounds most people could not imagine.

Since the publication of the inaugural AI Sector Study in 2022, the UK’s AI ecosystem has grown to include more than 5,800 companies – an 85% increase over the past two years. AI revenue is now £23.9 billion, and the sector employs more than 86,000 people. To put that in context, it’s bigger than the UK gambling sector – on both counts. Digital infrastructure is the foundation of this new economy.

Outages are less common than they once were, but when they happen, the impact is severe. According to the Uptime Institute Global Data Center Survey 2025, half of data center operators reported at least one impactful outage in the past three years, and one in ten of those caused a serious or severe disruption. The financial risk is just as significant. 20% of operators said their most recent outage cost more than $1 million when accounting for downtime, recovery, and reputational damage.

Pulsant recently pledged to slash its carbon and other emissions as part of a thorough review of the entire business. Our goal is to halve all emissions by 2030 and achieve Net Zero by 2050 at the latest. This will require a continued and sustained effort. To be effective we will need to understand our connections to bring all our suppliers, vendors, clients, and of course our people, with us. Our ambition will be validated in accordance with the Science Based Targets Initiatives’ Net Zero Standard.

“As the UK’s hybrid cloud specialist we are already helping clients reduce their environmental impact by ensuring the most efficient use of their technology infrastructure. I am really proud that this pledge to shift to Net Zero takes us, and our clients, to the next stage on this vital journey.” – Rob Coupland, CEO, Pulsant Pulsant is promising to achieve Net Zero by 2050, and earlier, if possible.

Data center vacancy rates in North America have hit record lows, with reports from CBRE and JLL indicating figures between 1.6% and 2.3% as of mid-2025. This is driven by exceptionally high demand from hyperscale and AI users, which is outstripping supply and leading to significant competition for space and power. The tight market is expected to continue through at least 2027, with preleasing of new construction at high levels.