Questions to Ask When Evaluating AI-Ready Data Center Providers
TechTarget, Thursday, July 30th, 2026
AI infrastructure demands require evaluating data centers beyond traditional metrics, including power, cooling, sustainability, and community risks.
Traditional data center procurement criteria no longer suffice for GPU-intensive AI workloads, which demand extreme power density, advanced cooling, and low-latency interconnects.
Businesses must assess technical capabilities across power density, liquid cooling architecture, network performance, and scalability alongside sustainability factors like water consumption and energy sources.
Environmental impact assessments, regulatory compliance readiness, and community opposition represent critical long-term risks that can delay projects by billions in investment. Companies should distinguish between secured and planned capacity while evaluating provider transparency on emissions and resource usage.