The Eighth Annual Uptime Institute Data Center Survey provides an overview of the major trends shaping IT infrastructure delivery and strategy. The survey was conducted via email between February and May 2018 and includes responses from nearly 900 data center operators and IT practitioners globally from enterprise and service provider facilities.

Major themes in the 2018 survey results include:

• Cost and risk management trends as more enterprises move to hybrid infrastructures
• Data center efficiency metrics, including PUE
• Edge computing and the impact on operational and management complexity
• Rack density and the cooling challenges it presents
• DCIM adoption reaches the mainstream
• Climate change and its impact on data centers around the world
• Data center industry staffing and diversity trends