In 2008, for example, more than half of companies interviewed in a recent report had suffered an outage due to operational or power issues. Long outages dramatically affect businesses and is a major fear of people considering outsourcing, Pucciarelli says.

"When you interview a person who has had a data center issue, where it went down for days, it is an emotionally scarring issue," he says.

Outsourcing is not the only solution. As companies consolidate during the economic downturn, they will typically merge data center operations into their newest facilities, Pucciarelli says. Over the next few years, the analyst expects many facilities to be put up for sale.