Building a modern data center strategy in the AI era
A modern artificial intelligence (AI) data center strategy replaces uncertainty with structure: clear rules, visible costs, and smooth transitions. Real estate becomes an operating asset, with site selection driven by risk and performance. As AI and computing costs evolve, adaptability is key. Explore our perspective for guiding principles and checklists that can help build your hybrid-by-design strategy.
Rethinking your data center strategy
For years, the data center was treated as an overhead cost by organizations: A necessary, but not strategic, component of the organization. That framing no longer fits. The rapid rise of AI has meant an organization’s data center strategy and footprint has become either a competitive advantage or disadvantage for the organization. Today, the data center determines how quickly you can ship, how reliably you can run, and how confidently you can invest.
Most organizations have a hybrid data center posture, but one that is hybrid-by-default; a patchwork of cloud contracts, colocation sites, and on‑premise facilities, with upgrades assembled under pressure. It’s the intentionality upon which this hybrid landscape is built that matters, and our underlying thesis is that companies, so often hybrid-by-default, should consider a more intentional, hybrid-by-design strategy.
Setting up your modern data center strategy
Guiding principles for hybrid-by-design
We suggest three principles that can help you guide the shift from hybrid-by-default to the intentional, hybrid-by-design strategy:
- Co-ownership with the business
- Resilience and value must be considered together
- Service economics should to be transparent
Architecture principles: Resilience and value by design
Translate your framework into principles that guide every placement and modernization decision. The intent is resilience and value at the same time.
Turning volatility into advantage
Resilience and value are not trade-offs. Hybrid-by-design enables enterprises to scale AI without breaking compliance, integrate acquisitions without chaos, and explain infrastructure choices in the language of EBITDA, margin, and time to market.
The path is practical. Run infrastructure with the business, not for it. Make placement decisions deliberate and transparent. Treat total cost as a unit-based input, not a back-end reconciliation. Segment estates for AI to secure capacity and compliance. Build durable capabilities in platform engineering, SRE, and AI operations. Embed governance, sustainability, and resilience into daily work.
Leaders who act rapidly by baselining total cost of ownership (TCO), standing up governance, and creating AI-ready zones are better positioned to establish the rhythm for durable modernization. They are poised to be able to scale AI responsibly, manage risk visibly, and deliver faster, cheaper, and more secure services than their peers. That’s what it means to turn volatility into advantage.
Still have questions about how to set up your organization’s modern data center strategy? Download our article for decision checklists and actionable frameworks that can help you shift from a hybrid-by-default to a deliberate, hybrid-by-design strategy.
Lou DiLorenzo Jr.
Chris Thomas
