If you’re an IT executive in a mid-sized business, planning your 2026-2027 budget, you’re seeing continued pressure to dedicate more budget to AI related investments. Businesses now must add AI spending to weighing the ROI against budget allocations for virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), digital transformation, and SaaS applications.

With more limited budgets, mid-sized businesses are in constant struggle to correctly prioritize spending. In the case of VDI, budgeting has gotten more interesting as the market has undergone a major upheaval with new brands, acquisitions and some vendors trying to hold on to market share they gained pre-upheaval. As a result, mid-market businesses, somewhat unwillingly, have had to reassess their VDI related investments and relationships, including their investment in the hardware and software needed to support their hybrid workforce.

VDI market changes have prompted mid-sized businesses to explore new options for their endpoint VDI deployments. They’re looking for improved economies, more ability to customize and to avoid legacy-style locked-in agreements.

Moving Past the Chaos

VDI remains a dominant force in enabling digital transformation and hybrid workforce productivity. The global VDI market is estimated to reach $78 billion by 2032, a CAGR growth rate of 22.1% from 2024. While vendors and providers serving the VDI market may change, the reality is, the need to deploy VDI will only increase as security concerns, remote work and cloud computing continue to make virtual desktops a desired choice.

The VDI industry can look a bit chaotic, but course correction was inevitable as long-term players face a different market in which businesses are looking for more flexibility and the ability to change relationships as their business and operational strategy evolves. It has opened the door to entities like Omnissa which offers a menu of subscription term lengths starting at one year. The legacy, multi-year agreements are giving way to these more flexible options.

To move past VDI market changes, it’s best to focus first on what a business needs in endpoint investments over the next several years. Key considerations include:

• New technology investments to improve workspace productivity and employee engagement.
• Clarifying AI business strategy to determine what is needed in endpoint device support.
• Updating anticipated hybrid workforce headcount to avoid purchasing shortfalls.
• Evaluating needed endpoint security and compliance improvements.

Once this evaluation is done a business can look at the landscape of VDI choices and fine tune purchasing.

Where Endpoint Hardware Fits

Businesses’ changing approach to VDI and endpoint investment has spurred new interest in evaluating hardware options, notably thin clients and zero clients. Thin clients, in one form or another, have been in use for decades. However, the adoption of VDI and acceleration of remote work has made modern thin clients an essential element in endpoint computing. They offer time and money savings compared to legacy ‘fat’ PCs, with a smaller form factor. Thin clients display remote desktop sessions, while virtual machines (VMs) host the centralized compute operations. Since data is not stored locally, thin clients offer improved security when a hybrid workforce is accessing files and applications at different locations around the globe.

For mid-sized businesses, with few IT professionals already managing many tasks, a modern thin client offers centralized management of on-premises and off-premises endpoints, saving IT considerable time.

Zero clients connect solely and instantly to a remote desktop and reduce cyber threats even further, since they are a leaned down version of a thin client, often connecting to a singular platform only. They are based around zero trust principles and restrict users from saving data locally. When evaluating thin client and zero client choices, some key questions to ask are:

• Are you supplying thin clients for primarily task workers, power users, or a combination of both? A task worker may only need an Intel Atom x5-E8000 Quad Core Processor, two display ports and four USB ports with an RJ45 connector. A knowledge worker or power user will likely need an Intel N100 Quad Core Processor, two HDMI connectors, 60Hz screen support, six USB ports and an RJ45 connector.
• Will a thin client need to integrate with a number of VDI and application providers? A flexible thin client will be able to connect to (AVD) Azure Virtual Desktop, Citrix, Omnissa and Windows 365 Cloud PC, among others, to satisfy the needs of different workers and use cases.
• Does your business involve protecting highly sensitive data subject to stringent compliance regulations? Thin and zero clients that are feature-rich to comply with strict data protection protocols will be a necessary requirement.
• Do you have separate licensing agreements for endpoint management software and hardware? In many cases integration of licensing agreements can help save budgets and streamline management.
• Are you looking to move to different subscription and payment models? Mid-sized businesses will find more competitive options in the market that offer flexible term agreements. Businesses also want to avoid being locked into pricier agreements due to vendor mergers, and to avoid ‘tag-on’ fees that can multiply when a vendor adds technology features. They will be critically evaluating options to avoid any unnecessary budget increases.
• What level of technical support will your IT staff require, from initial installations to firmware updates? Providers vary in pricing for ongoing tech support and what’s covered in the purchasing agreement.

Creating the 2026 Strategy

Going into 2026, it is more of a buyer’s market as companies want to customize their VDI and related investments to better support overall business and endpoint computing goals. Flexible, finely curated agreements will win in the marketplace. To be the most effective, a business will benefit from first examining 2026’s larger goals in workspace improvements, security and compliance and technology investments. This analysis will help more precisely evaluate thin clients and zero purchasing. The VDI market is still recovering from its chaotic period, but mid-sized businesses can avoid the chaos with well thought-out strategies and informed decision making.

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About the Author

Kevin Greenway joined 10ZiG in 2012 and became CTO in 2015. He leads the company’s overall technology and product strategy, collaborating with global teams to ensure continuous innovation in a fast-paced, disruptive market. Under his leadership, 10ZiG delivers modern, managed, and secure endpoints through a unified hardware and software approach.

A computer science graduate with numerous IT certifications, Kevin has more than 25 years of experience in the IT sector, including remote connectivity, terminal emulation, VoIP, unified communications, and VDI remoting protocols. Since joining 10ZiG, he has focused exclusively on VDI and End User Computing (EUC) and oversees strategic technology alliances with leading partners such as Citrix, Microsoft, and Omnissa.

Outside of work, Kevin is a devoted family man who enjoys spending time with his wife, two children, and their dog. He enjoys running, cycling and watching sports such as Motorsport & Football/Soccer, especially his son’s team and Leicester City FC.

The post Making Sense Out of VDI Chaos appeared first on Data Center POST.

AI has pushed data center thermal loads to levels the industry has never encountered. Racks that once operated comfortably at 8-15 kW are now climbing past 50-100 kW, driving an accelerated shift toward liquid cooling. This transition is happening so quickly that many organizations are deploying new technologies faster than they can fully understand the operational risks.

In my recent five-part LinkedIn series:

• 2025 U.S. Data Center Incident Trends & Lessons Learned (9-15-2025)
• Building Safer Data Centers: How Technology is Changing Construction Safety (10-1-2025)
• The Future of Zero-Incident Data Centers (1ind0-15-2025)
• Measuring What Matters: The New Safety Metrics in Data Centers (11-1-2025)
• Beyond Safety: Building Resilient Data Centers Through Integrated Risk Management (11-15-2025)

— a central theme emerged: as systems become more interconnected, risks become more systemic.

That same dynamic influenced the Direct-to-Chip Cooling: A Technical Primer article that Steve Barberi and I published in Data Center POST (10-29-2025). Today, we are observing this systemic-risk framework emerging specifically in the growing role of Cooling Distribution Units (CDUs).

CDUs have evolved from peripheral equipment to a true point of convergence for engineering design, controls logic, chemistry, operational discipline, and human performance. As AI rack densities accelerate, understanding these risks is becoming essential.

CDUs: From Peripheral Equipment to Critical Infrastructure

Historically, CDUs were treated as supplemental mechanical devices. Today, they sit at the center of the liquid-cooling ecosystem governing flow, pressure, temperature stability, fluid quality, isolation, and redundancy. In practice, the CDU now operates as the boundary between stable thermal control and cascading instability.

Yet, unlike well-established electrical systems such as UPSs, switchgear, and feeders, CDUs lack decades of operational history. Operators, technicians, commissioning agents, and even design teams have limited real-world reference points. That blind spot is where a new class of risk is emerging, and three patterns are showing up most frequently.

A New Risk Landscape for CDUs

• Controls-Layer Fragility
  • Controls-related instability remains one of the most underestimated issues in liquid cooling. Many CDUs still rely on single-path PLC architectures, limited sensor redundancy, and firmware not designed for the thermal volatility of AI workloads. A single inaccurate pressure, flow, or temperature reading can trigger inappropriate or incorrect system responses affecting multiple racks before anyone realizes something is wrong.
• Pressure and Flow Instability
  • AI workloads surge and cycle, producing heat patterns that stress pumps, valves, gaskets, seals, and manifolds in ways traditional IT never did. These fluctuations are accelerating wear modes that many operators are just beginning to recognize. Illustrative Open Compute Project (OCP) design examples (e.g., 7–10 psi operating ranges at relevant flow rates) are helpful reference points, but they are not universal design criteria.
• Human-Performance Gaps
• • CDU-related high-potential near misses (HiPo NMs) frequently arise during commissioning and maintenance, when technicians are still learning new workflows. For teams accustomed to legacy air-cooled systems, tasks such as valve sequencing, alarm interpretation, isolation procedures, fluid handling, and leak response are unfamiliar. Unfortunately, as noted in my Building Safer Data Centers post, when technology advances faster than training, people become the first point of vulnerability.

Photo Image: Borealis CDU
Photo by AGT

Additional Risks Emerging in 2025 Liquid-Cooled Environments

Beyond the three most frequent patterns noted above, several quieter but equally impactful vulnerabilities are also surfacing across 2025 deployments:

• System Architecture Gaps
  • Some first-generation CDUs and loops lack robust isolation, bypass capability, or multi-path routing. Single points of failure, such as a valve, pump, or PLC drive full-loop shutdowns, mirroring the cascading-risk behaviors highlighted in my earlier work on resilience.
• Maintenance & Operational Variability
• • SOPs for liquid-cooling vary widely across sites and vendors. Fluid handling, startup/shutdown sequences, and leak-response steps remain inconsistent and/or create conditions for preventable HiPo NMs.
• Chemistry & Fluid Integrity Risks
• • As highlighted in the DTC article Steve Barberi and I co-authored, corrosion, additive depletion, cross-contamination, and stagnant zones can quietly degrade system health. ICP-MS analysis and other advanced techniques are recommended in OCP-aligned coolant programs for PG-25-class fluids, though not universally required.
• Leak Detection & Nuisance Alarms
• • False positives and false negatives, especially across BMS/DCIM integrations, remain common. Predictive analytics are becoming essential despite not yet being formalized in standards.
• Facility-Side Dynamics
• • Upstream conditions such as temperature swings, ΔP fluctuations, water hammer, cooling tower chemistry, and biofouling often drive CDU instability. CDUs are frequently blamed for behavior originating in facility water systems.
• Interoperability & Telemetry Semantics
• • Inconsistent Modbus, BACnet, and Redfish mappings, naming conventions, and telemetry schemas create confusion and delay troubleshooting.

Best Practices: Designing CDUs for Resilience, Not Just Cooling Capacity

If CDUs are going to serve as the cornerstone of liquid cooling in AI environments, they must be engineered around resilience, not simply performance. Several emerging best practices are gaining traction:

1. Controls Redundancy
   • Dual PLCs, dual sensors, and cross-validated telemetry signals reduce single-point failure exposure. These features do not have prescriptive standards today but are rapidly emerging as best practices for high-density AI environments.
2. Real-Time Telemetry & Predictive Insight
   • Detecting drift, seal degradation, valve lag, and chemistry shift early is becoming essential. Predictive analytics and deeper telemetry integration are increasingly expected.
3. Meaningful Isolation
   • Operators should be able to isolate racks, lines, or nodes without shutting down entire loops. In high-density AI environments, isolation becomes uptime.
4. Failure-Mode Commissioning
   • CDUs should be tested not only for performance but also for failure behavior such as PLC loss, sensor failures, false alarms, and pressure transients. These simulations reveal early-life risk patterns that standard commissioning often misses.
5. Reliability Expectations
   • CDU design should align with OCP’s system-level reliability expectations, such as MTBF targets on the order of >300,000 hours for OAI Level 10 assemblies, while recognizing that CDU-specific requirements vary by vendor and application.

Standards Alignment

The risks and mitigation strategies outlined above align with emerging guidance from ASHRAE TC 9.9 and the OCP’s liquid-cooling workstreams, including:

• OAI System Liquid Cooling Guidelines
• Liquid-to-Liquid CDU Test Methodology
• ASTM D8040 & D1384 for coolant chemistry durability
• IEC/UL 62368-1 for hazard-based safety
• ASHRAE 90.4, PUE/WUE/CUE metrics, and
• ANSI/BICSI 002, ISO/IEC 22237, and Uptime’s Tier Standards emphasizing concurrently maintainable infrastructure.

These collectively reinforce a shift: CDUs must be treated as availability-critical systems, not auxiliary mechanical devices.

Looking Ahead

The rise of CDUs represents a moment the data center industry has seen before. As soon as a new technology becomes mission-critical, its risk profile expands until safety, engineering, and operations converge around it. Twenty years ago, that moment belonged to UPS systems. Ten years ago, it was batteries. Now, in AI-driven environments, it is the CDU.

Organizations that embrace resilient CDU design, deep visibility, and operator readiness will be the ones that scale AI safely and sustainably.

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About the Author

Walter Leclerc is an independent consultant and recognized industry thought leader in Environmental Health & Safety, Risk Management, and Sustainability, with deep experience across data center construction and operations, technology, and industrial sectors. He has written extensively on emerging risk, liquid cooling, safety leadership, predictive analytics, incident trends, and the integration of culture, technology, and resilience in next-generation mission-critical environments. Walter led the initiatives that earned Digital Realty the Environment+Energy Leader’s Top Project of the Year Award for its Global Water Strategy and recognition on EHS Today’s America’s Safest Companies List. A frequent global speaker on the future of safety, sustainability, and resilience in data centers, Walter holds a B.S. in Chemistry from UC Berkeley and an M.S. in Environmental Management from the University of San Francisco.

The post The Rising Risk Profile of CDUs in High-Density AI Data Centers appeared first on Data Center POST.