Server sales fell 16.5% in 2009, but the market is expected to post 5.5% CAGR in shipments and 2.4% revenue growth from 2010-2014, research firm Gartner forecasts.
With the worst of the global economic slowdown over, analysts are expecting enterprises to put server purchases back on the front burner.
But with server sales about to take off, that means more power, cooling and space issues for data center managers, according to Gartner.
If data center power, cooling and space problems had been “causing such headaches in a very depressed IT market, they will become significantly worse in an expanding market,” said Gartner research vice president Rakesh Kumar.
Kumar also urged a cautious approach to acquiring new servers.
While new equipment was usually more energy-efficient and often greater capacity, “there will likely be spare capacity on older machines that could also be used.”
IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Oracle have recently unveiled new more-efficient server products which are expected to generate returns in only a few months due to lower power and cooling costs.