Avoiding Downtime: Keeping Data Centres Resilient and Ready

Downtime threats loom year-round, earlier this week the AWS outage caused significant downtime for several platforms including banks, mobile networks and business management platforms causing operations to grind to a halt, payment systems to fail and a lot of headache for businesses on a Monday morning. Unpredictable workloads, rapid AI adoption and ageing infrastructure are creating further cracks in resilience. In an industry where milliseconds matter, the question isn’t if downtime will strike; it’s how prepared you are when it does.

Downtime today carries consequences far beyond inconvenience. A recent report from the Uptime Institute (2024) found that over 70% of outages now cost operators more than $100,000, with nearly one in four surpassing $1 million. The financial hit is matched by reputational damage, SLA penalties and the erosion of customer trust, a triple blow that lingers long after systems come back online.

According to Dell’Oro Group (2024), data centre capex is expected to exceed $400 billion by 2027, with AI driving the bulk of that growth. Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency warns that data centre electricity consumption is set to double by 2030, with AI workloads a primary driver. This scale of growth is colliding with legacy systems not designed to cope with the demands of today’s high-density, always-on workloads.

Legacy infrastructure isn’t just inefficient, it’s a liability. Long construction lead times, limited scalability and high operating costs mean that when market demand shifts, traditional builds simply can’t keep pace. In a landscape where hyperscalers are breaking ground on AI-ready campuses in under 12 months, standing still risks falling behind.

Building resilience means reducing vulnerabilities and having the right safeguards in place. For operators, three focus areas stand out:

1. Proactive Monitoring and Predictive Maintenance

Downtime is often preventable. Deploying predictive analytics and condition-based monitoring allows operators to spot issues early, schedule maintenance at the right time and avoid costly surprises.

2. Designing for Scalability

Overbuilding wastes capital, but underbuilding risks bottlenecks and instability. Modular deployments allow capacity to expand in line with demand, minimising strain and avoiding rushed retrofits.

3. Building in Redundancy and Recovery

Data centre outages come at a cost, with critical industries like healthcare and finance hit the hardest. That makes redundancy across power, cooling and connectivity essential. Pairing this with tested disaster recovery plans ensures continuity even under unexpected conditions.

Together, these practices strengthen resilience, ensuring facilities can adapt to fast-changing market demands while protecting performance and reputation.

Resilience today means adaptability as much as availability. Modern operators need infrastructure that scales with demand, can be delivered predictably and integrates advanced power and cooling architectures. Modular and prefabricated design answers that need, offering:

• Deployment up to 60% faster than traditional builds (Uptime Institute)
• Factory-level quality assurance, reducing onsite risk and rework
• Repeatable, scalable designs that bring consistency across geographies

At Durata, we engineer resilience from the ground up. With 80,000 sq. ft of in-house fabrication facilities, advanced CNC machinery and full control over delivery, we ensure accuracy and repeatability at scale. Our AI:20 modular factory produces high-density, vendor-flexible solutions tailored for AI workloads. With strategic bases in Teesside Freeport and Atlanta, backed by a dedicated Projects Delivery Team, we can deploy globally with speed and consistency.

The data centre industry is heading into uncharted territory, with AI workloads, edge computing and energy demands rewriting the rulebook. Traditional builds simply don’t offer the flexibility to keep pace. The winners will be those who adopt models and infrastructure designed for change.

Our focus is clear: helping operators turn uncertainty into readiness and ensuring we can combat fears of downtime.