Data Centre World is one of the standout events in the industry’s calendar, never more so perhaps than when the sector is facing considerable change and disruption.
This year, operators, developers and supply chain specialists came together at a time delivery timelines are tightening and infrastructure demands are increasing. Conversations across the event focused on a number of areas, including: how facilities can be delivered faster while supporting higher server density; how to meet evolving cooling requirements; and continued high demand for sustainable solutions.
How Tate can support faster data centre delivery
Tate’s stand showcased how our integrated products and services can remove friction from delivery, particularly where traditional models may create delays between design intent and on-site execution.
In other words, this is a market focused on delivering data centre environments that are designed, assembled and delivered to meet emerging needs.
Rather than presenting isolated innovations, we emphasised the need for coordinated solutions across the whitespace to shorten programme timelines and better manage site-based labour.
We used our presence at DCW to demonstrate our expertise in three key areas where change is already underway: modularisation, liquid cooling, and sustainable solutions.
There was particular interest from visitors in Tate’s integrated infrastructure approach, including Konnect, which can help simplify deployment while sill delivering against rising power demands and cooling requirements.
Modularisation within the whitespace
Our discussions with hyperscale and colocation providers showed strong alignment around modularisation in order to limit programme delays.
As planning approvals and construction timelines become less predictable, customers are focusing on compressing the phases they can control, particularly around installation and commissioning within the whitespace.
This has increased interest in pre-engineered systems that can be deployed with minimal on-site adjustment, to better manage costs. For example, how Tate’s turnkey delivery models can remove any coordination gaps between components that would otherwise be sourced and installed separately.
Konnect is our fully-integrated, factory-built system, combining power, liquid cooling manifolds, connectivity, air handling and commissioning services into one streamlined solution. It is perfectly positioned to help accelerate deployment within increasingly high-density environments.
Liquid cooling as an operational baseline
Over the last few years, we have seen growing awareness of the potential of liquid cooling, and our conversations at DCW showed that teams now treat it as a standard within new capacity planning.
Tate’s manifold solutions were on display in London, where visitors showed considerable interest in their stainless steel construction. Stainless steel is renowned for its durability, and its ability to ensure our manifolds deliver high-quality, smooth operations and integrations.
Many vendors in the industry were also keen to speak with us regarding our valves and hoses as it appears that a significant proportion of capacity will now require liquid cooling support (current estimates are around 20%, even within retail and colocation environments).
While air cooling still has a role, data centre teams now tend to position it within hybrid or transitional strategies rather than as the primary method.
This shift again highlights the importance of compatibility across components (including valves, hoses and distribution systems), to deliver a consistent/dependable system performance.
Sustainability within specification decisions
Our discussions with design managers showed that sustainability is influencing specification decisions, although this is rarely in isolation from cost, or supply chain reliability.
Sustainable options are high on the list of requirements but this is balanced by the need for a reliable supply chain, system durability, maintenance requirements and their overall lifespan.
Tate’s team were able to demonstrate the value and positive impact of our products, which shaped the direction of many of our conversations.
How the market is shaping
DCW 2026 reflected a market dealing with multiple interdependent changes.
For Tate’s team, there was interest spread across several areas that will shape how whitespace environments are delivered in the near term.
Essentially, we are seeing progress in the UK’s data centre sector that emphasises alignment between systems, processes and supply chains.
Ongoing direction
Our conversations across the event suggest that for hyperscale and colocation providers, having certainty over infrastructure delivery is vital, particularly where external factors continue to place pressure on project timelines.
They need a supply chain that helps them reduce installation complexity, while supporting higher density and evolving cooling requirements.
Discussions during DCW underlined growing demand for Tate’s pre-integrated infrastructure factory-built systems such as Konnect to support high-performance computing and mission-critical infrastructure.
For more information, discover Konnect by Tate