With the cloud and other solutions changing the ways that companies provide and consume IT and do business, it is fascinating (and important) to think about what data centers and IT organization will look like in 10 years. How does emerging technology and innovation change the way you plan for and contract for data center–related services? Think about it: will there be less internal infrastructure because of cloud offerings but a greater focus on security and data? Will shorter terms increase the ability to stay flexible and dynamic? What happens to disaster recovery and business continuity?

It is important to think about the effect of long-term visions on real-time or short-term contracting requirements. Emerson offers an interesting view of the state of data center operations in 2025 in its Data Center 2025 report.