2026 Industry Trends, Strategies and Innovations
New research from Foundry (an IDG, Inc. company) based on a survey of more than 300 IT leaders reveals that hybrid IT has become the definitive operating model for modern enterprise infrastructure. Data shows that as the complexity of workload placement increases, colocation data centers deliver the control, security, connectivity and AI scale businesses require to be future-ready.
Key Findings
Cloud On-Ramps: From Competitive Advantage to Absolute Requirement
For the first time in five years, 100% of IT leaders said direct cloud interconnection is important when selecting a colocation provider, with a record 79% rating it very important. This data insight underscores the evolution of on-site cloud on-ramps from a differentiator to a universal requirement.
Physical Security Learn More →
Built for Physical Security: Enterprises Choosing Colocation to Protect Critical Infrastructure
Physical security has long been fundamental to a hybrid IT strategy to ensure uptime, resiliency and redundancy for businesses. Survey respondents stated security is the leading technical reason to move workloads to a colocation environment.
IT Leaders are Moving AI Production Workloads to Colocation and Hybrid Environments
The market is making a decisive shift. Nearly 70% of CIOs now favor colocation data centers and hybrid environments for their AI/ML workloads, like chatbots, virtual assistants and web hosting. This is the clearest evidence to date that AI infrastructure is moving to highly connected, power-dense environments.
The Next Phase of Hybrid IT: Success Depends on Aligning Infrastructure with Business Objectives
Organizations are becoming increasingly intentional about workload placements based on cost, performance and scale. While they are not overhauling their infrastructure strategies, survey results show growth in colocation across workload types including web apps, HR management systems and augmented AI applications.
Additional Resources
A Look Back at the 2025 State of the Data Center Report
Data Center Knowledge Base
Navigating the Evolving Demands of Hybrid IT
Colocation’s Strategic Role in Modern, AI-Driven Hybrid IT Infrastructure
Download the report to gain actionable insights for interconnecting AI and other mission-critical workloads and explore proven strategies for modernizing your infrastructure and selecting your data center partner.