Data Center Consulting Services Market Size, Share & Forecast to 2035

The Data Center Consulting Services Market is valued at USD 3.83 billion in 2026 and is projected to reach USD 8.24 billion by 2035, up from USD 3.27 billion in 2025, a CAGR of 9.68% from 2025 to 2035 (DC Market Insights estimate). The money in data center consulting now moves with the grid queue rather than with land: ERCOT, the Texas grid operator, was tracking about 410 GW of large loads seeking interconnection in March 2026, about 87% of them data centers, according to its April 2026 large-load update, so a developer pays for power and site studies before it buys a single acre. In Great Britain, the energy regulator Ofgem reported demand connection applications rising from 41 GW to 125 GW in under a year, and it moved in July 2026 against speculative data center projects that hold at least 80 GW of that queue. Each of those requests needs a load study, a utility negotiation and a feasibility case, and each campus that clears the queue then needs an owner’s representative to spend a facility budget of about USD 10.5 million per megawatt.

The market covers independent advisory bought by data center owners, developers, investors and public bodies: site selection and power advisory, owner’s representative and program management, cost consulting and procurement advisory, transaction and technical due diligence, energy, sustainability and compliance advisory, and operations and consolidation advisory. The 2025 receipt is 12,000 MW of new IT capacity × USD 10.5 million of facility capex per MW = USD 126.0 billion × 1.45% advisory = USD 1.83 billion, plus USD 160 billion of transacted and financed data center assets × 0.25% due diligence = USD 0.40 billion, plus 116,000 MW of installed IT load × USD 9,000 per MW-year = USD 1.04 billion. Cost Consulting and Procurement Advisory grows fastest among service types at 11.41% a year because transformers, switchgear and generators now carry lead times that owners buy outside help to manage, and Asia Pacific is the fastest region at 11.95% as India’s consulting spend grows 16.28% a year.

Key Market Statistics: How Big Is the Data Center Consulting Services Market in 2026?

The Data Center Consulting Services Market reaches USD 3.83 billion in 2026, 17.18% above the USD 3.27 billion of 2025, as new data center IT capacity rises from 12,000 MW to 14,000 MW a year and installed IT load passes 130 GW (DC Market Insights estimate).

• Market size 2025: USD 3.27 billion
• Market size 2026: USD 3.83 billion
• Market size 2030: USD 6.37 billion
• Market size 2035: USD 8.24 billion
• CAGR 2025-2035: 9.68% (low case 7.26%, high case 11.70%)
• Largest service type: Owner’s Representative and Program Management, 32.74% of 2025 value
• Fastest service type: Cost Consulting and Procurement Advisory, 11.41% a year
• Leading region: North America, 45.00% of 2025 value; fastest region: Asia Pacific, 11.95%
• Largest country: United States, USD 1.33 billion in 2025
• Market leader: Turner & Townsend, about 7% of 2025 value (DC Market Insights estimate)

Key Takeaways: Why Do Data Center Owners Hire Consultants?

• Owner’s Representative and Program Management holds 32.74% of 2025 value, because every new campus spends about USD 10.5 million per megawatt on the facility and owners pay about 0.85% of that to have someone manage contractors and schedule.
• Site Selection and Power Advisory grows 10.89% a year to USD 1.42 billion in 2035, because grid queues in Texas and Great Britain now run to hundreds of gigawatts and power studies come before land deals.
• Investors and Lenders spend USD 425.23 million in 2025, because deals such as the USD 40 billion Aligned Data Centers acquisition need technical due diligence on power, cooling and contracts.
• Government and Public Sector grows fastest among clients at 13.23% a year, because state programmes in Japan, Singapore and the Gulf plan data center zones and need independent feasibility work.

Executive Summary: What Is the Data Center Consulting Services Market Worth?

The Global Data Center Consulting Services Market size was valued at USD 1.11 billion in 2020, reached USD 3.27 billion in 2025, and is anticipated to reach USD 8.24 billion by 2035, at a CAGR of 9.68% during the forecast period.

Attribute	Value
Historical period	2020-2024
Base year	2025
Forecast period	2026-2035
Market size 2025	USD 3.27 billion
Market size 2026	USD 3.83 billion
CAGR 2025-2035	9.68%
Market size 2035	USD 8.24 billion
Segments covered	Service Type, Client Type, Facility Type, Engagement Model

Growth from 2020 to 2025 ran at 24.21% a year as new IT capacity more than doubled from 5,000 MW to 12,000 MW, facility capex per megawatt rose from USD 8.5 million to USD 10.5 million and the advisory share of that capex rose from 1.25% to 1.45% as power studies became a standard first step. Growth after 2025 slows to 9.68% because new capacity rises to 22,000 MW in 2030 and 27,000 MW in 2035 at a flatter advisory rate of 1.46% to 1.52%. DC Market Insights expects USD 6.37 billion in 2030.

What Does the Data Center Consulting Services Market Include?

The Data Center Consulting Services Market counts USD 3.27 billion of 2025 fees for independent advice on where to build data centers, how to power them, how to buy and finance them and how to run them within the rules.

Included

• Site selection, grid and power advisory, utility negotiation support and feasibility studies.
• Owner’s representative, program management and project controls for data center builds.
• Cost consulting, quantity surveying and procurement advisory for long-lead electrical and mechanical equipment.
• Transaction advisory and technical due diligence for buyers, sellers and lenders.
• Energy, sustainability and regulatory compliance advisory, including efficiency reporting and power purchase strategy.
• Operations, consolidation and colocation-migration planning for enterprise and public data centers.

Excluded

• Architecture and engineering design fees (counted in the Data Center Design Market, USD 8.13 billion in 2025).
• Commissioning, testing, inspection and certification (counted in the Data Center Testing Inspection Certification Market).
• Construction, general contracting and construction management at risk.
• Managed services, staffing and facility operations contracts, and cloud or software migration consulting.

How the segments fit together

Three money pools make up the total: build-side advice (site, owner’s representative, cost) worth USD 1.83 billion in 2025, deal-side due diligence worth USD 400.00 million, and run-side advice (energy, compliance, operations) worth USD 1.04 billion. Client type, facility type, engagement model, region and country splits each divide the same total and sum to it in every year.

Why Do Data Center Consulting Services Market Estimates Differ?

Estimates differ because the name covers very different scopes: DC Market Insights puts the Data Center Consulting Services Market at USD 3.83 billion in 2026 by counting only independent advisory fees on physical data centers.

Broader definitions add architecture and engineering design, which alone is more than twice this market, commissioning and testing, construction management at risk, and IT consulting such as cloud migration and application modernisation, which is a software-services market rather than a data center one. Some also count the internal planning teams of hyperscale operators as if they were bought services. DC Market Insights keeps those out so the figure matches what an owner actually pays an outside adviser. Small and mid-sized enterprises, universities, hospitals and local governments are in scope as buyers, mostly through consolidation and colocation-migration studies.

Element	In this report	Why
Site, power and feasibility advice	Yes, USD 504.00 million (2025)	Bought before land and grid commitments
Owner’s representative and cost consulting	Yes, USD 1,323.00 million (2025)	Advice on behalf of the owner, separate from the builder
Technical due diligence	Yes, USD 400.00 million (2025)	Bought by buyers and lenders on each deal
Architecture and engineering design	No	Counted in the Data Center Design Market
Commissioning and testing	No	Counted in testing, inspection and certification
Cloud and IT migration consulting	No	Software services, not facility advice

Market Drivers: Why Is Spending on Data Center Consultants Rising?

Three forces lift the Data Center Consulting Services Market from USD 3.27 billion in 2025 to USD 8.24 billion in 2035: grid queues, hyperscaler capital spending and large asset deals.

Grid Queues of 410 GW in Texas and 125 GW in Great Britain Make Power Advice the First Purchase

Power, not land, sets where a campus can go. ERCOT reported about 410 GW of large loads seeking interconnection in March 2026, and in PJM Interconnection’s 2027/2028 capacity auction the forecast peak rose about 5,250 MW, of which nearly 5,100 MW came from data centers, with prices clearing at the USD 333.44 per MW-day cap, according to the PJM auction results of December 2025. Developers now commission load-flow studies, utility negotiations and on-site generation options before they sign for land. DC Market Insights values Site Selection and Power Advisory at USD 504.00 million in 2025, 0.40% of facility capex against 0.25% in 2020, rising to USD 1.42 billion in 2035.

Amazon Plans About USD 200 Billion of 2026 Capex, and Owner’s Representatives Follow the Build

Hyperscale build budgets set the size of the owner’s-representative bench. Amazon told investors in February 2026 that it expects to invest about USD 200 billion in 2026, after USD 131.82 billion of property and equipment purchases in 2025; Alphabet guided USD 175 billion to USD 185 billion; Meta narrowed its 2026 range to USD 135 billion to USD 145 billion in October 2026; and Microsoft reported USD 115.95 billion of additions to property and equipment in fiscal 2026 while adding 88 new data centers, according to the companies’ filings. DC Market Insights values Owner’s Representative and Program Management at USD 1.07 billion in 2025, about 0.85% of the USD 126.0 billion of facility capex.

The USD 40 Billion Aligned Deal Shows Why Lenders Buy Technical Due Diligence

Every large data center transaction carries power, cooling, contract and capacity checks. AIP, MGX and Global Infrastructure Partners closed the acquisition of Aligned Data Centers in July 2026 at an enterprise value of about USD 40 billion for more than 6.4 GW of capacity (Source: Aligned Data Centers); a KKR-led consortium with Singtel agreed in February 2026 to buy ST Telemedia Global Data Centres at about USD 10.9 billion (Source: Singtel); and Alphabet agreed in December 2025 to buy Intersect for USD 4.75 billion in cash (Source: Alphabet). DC Market Insights puts transacted and financed data center assets at USD 160 billion in 2025 and Transaction and Technical Due Diligence at USD 400.00 million, 0.25% of deal value.

Market Trends: How Is Data Center Consulting Changing?

The Data Center Consulting Services Market is consolidating into large engineering and professional-services groups, with at least three data center consultancies bought between September 2024 and January 2026.

Accenture Buys Soben and 65% of DLB, Adding About 870 Data Center Advisers

Accenture completed its purchase of Soben, a Glasgow construction consultancy of about 250 people working for hyperscalers and colocation providers, in March 2025, and closed a 65% stake in DLB, a United States data center engineering and consulting firm of about 620 employees whose services include site selection and due diligence, in January 2026, according to the Accenture announcement. Ramboll bought i3 Solutions Group in September 2024, after buying EYP Mission Critical Facilities in 2022 (Source: Ramboll). Retainer and Framework Agreements grow 10.98% a year as these groups sell multi-site advisory programs rather than single studies.

Engineering Firms Take the Program Lead on 245 MW and 1.2 GW Campuses

Large engineering firms now run data center programs end to end. Jacobs reported a USD 23.1 billion backlog at the end of fiscal 2025, up 5.6%, and named data centers among the sectors leading growth, according to its fiscal 2025 results; in January 2026 Hut 8 selected Jacobs as engineering, procurement and construction management lead for its 245 MW River Bend campus in Louisiana, backed by a USD 7.0 billion lease (Source: Jacobs). Hyperscale and AI Campuses take 46.00% of 2025 consulting value and grow 11.03% a year.

Market Challenges: What Holds Back Data Center Consulting Fees?

Two limits keep the Data Center Consulting Services Market growing below new-build spending after 2030: rule changes that strand early studies and hyperscalers that keep advice in-house.

FERC Large-Load Proceedings of June 2026 Can Strand Early Site Studies

Grid rules are being rewritten while projects are in the queue. The United States Department of Energy directed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in October 2025 to start rulemaking on interconnecting loads above 20 MW, and in June 2026 FERC found that PJM’s tariff for large loads appears unjust and opened parallel proceedings for other grid operators (Source: FERC). Ofgem’s move against at least 80 GW of speculative British requests means many paid studies will not turn into projects. DC Market Insights holds the site and power fee at 0.42% of capex in 2035, below the 0.45% of 2030.

Hyperscalers Keep Planning In-House, Holding the Owner’s-Rep Rate Near 0.85%

The largest builders run their own site, power and program teams and buy outside advice only where they lack local reach. Microsoft added 88 new data centers in fiscal 2026 (Source: Microsoft annual report 2026), and builders at that pace staff their own site and program teams, so the advisory share of hyperscale capex stays low. DC Market Insights keeps the owner’s-representative rate at 0.85% of facility capex in 2025 and 0.82% in 2035, and Owner’s Representative and Program Management grows 9.96% a year, slower than Site Selection and Power Advisory at 10.89% and Cost Consulting and Procurement Advisory at 11.41%.

Market Opportunities: Where Will Data Center Consultants Earn the Most?

The two largest openings in the Data Center Consulting Services Market are compliance reporting and state-led data center programmes, together worth USD 2.49 billion by 2035.

EU Efficiency Reporting Builds a USD 1.59 Billion Compliance Advisory Line by 2035

European Union Delegated Regulation 2024/1364 requires every data center with at least 500 kW of IT power to report energy and water performance every year from 15 May 2025, according to the regulation text, and Ireland’s Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) requires new data centers to bring matching on-site or local generation or storage and to report renewables use and emissions. DC Market Insights values Energy Sustainability and Compliance Advisory at USD 603.20 million in 2025, USD 5,200 per installed MW-year, rising to USD 1.59 billion in 2035.

Government and Public Sector Clients Reach USD 906 Million by 2035

Governments now plan data center zones directly. Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) opened applications in December 2025 for green transformation (GX) strategic regions built around data center clusters, and Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) Green Data Centre Roadmap targets at least 300 MW of additional capacity. DC Market Insights values Government and Public Sector consulting at USD 261.68 million in 2025 and USD 906.25 million in 2035, the fastest client group at 13.23% a year.

Pricing: What Do Data Center Consultants Charge per Megawatt?

Build-side data center consulting costs about USD 152,250 per new megawatt in 2025, 1.45% of USD 10.5 million of facility capex, against USD 106,250 per megawatt in 2020 (DC Market Insights estimate).

Unit rate (DC Market Insights estimate)	2020	2025	2030	2035
Facility capex per new MW (USD million)	8.50	10.50	11.80	12.50
Site and power advisory (% of capex)	0.25%	0.40%	0.45%	0.42%
Owner’s representative (% of capex)	0.80%	0.85%	0.85%	0.82%
Cost consulting (% of capex)	0.20%	0.20%	0.22%	0.22%
Technical due diligence (% of deal value)	0.220%	0.250%	0.245%	0.240%
Energy and compliance advice (USD per installed MW-year)	3,800	5,200	5,400	5,100
Operations advice (USD per installed MW-year)	3,200	3,800	3,400	3,000

Public anchors bracket these rates. The United States federal rule caps architect-engineer design fees at 6% of estimated construction cost (General Services Administration, May 2025), so advisory at 1.45% sits well under design. Iowa State University charges in-house project management at 5.5% to 3.0% of project budget on a sliding scale, a public ceiling for owner’s-representative work on small projects. Single studies are small tickets: the Greater Manchester Combined Authority awarded a data center proposal study for GBP 25,508 in April 2025, and the University of North Carolina Greensboro approved USD 300,000 for a data center planning assessment in October 2024.

Standards and Regulation: Which Rules Create Data Center Consulting Work?

At least six rules adopted or proposed since March 2024 create paid study and reporting work in the Data Center Consulting Services Market, led by the EU reporting duty for sites of 500 kW and above.

• EU Delegated Regulation 2024/1364 (European Commission, March 2024): annual energy and sustainability reporting for data centers of 500 kW IT power and above.
• CRU data center connection policy (Commission for Regulation of Utilities, February 2025 proposal): matching on-site or local generation or storage and annual emissions reporting in Ireland.
• Section 403 letter on large loads (United States Department of Energy, October 2025): FERC rulemaking for loads above 20 MW, with final action due by 30 April 2026.
• FERC show-cause orders EL26-67 to EL26-72 (FERC, June 2026): review of large-load tariffs at PJM and other grid operators.
• Demand connections reform (Ofgem, July 2026): action against speculative data center requests in the British queue.
• Green Data Centre Roadmap (IMDA, Singapore, 2024): at least 300 MW of new capacity with power usage effectiveness (PUE) of 1.3 or lower within 10 years.

Market Segmentation: Which Segments Lead the Data Center Consulting Services Market?

Owner’s Representative and Program Management leads the Data Center Consulting Services Market with USD 1.07 billion in 2025, while Hyperscale Cloud Providers are the largest client group at 37.00% of value.

Data Center Consulting Services Market by Service Type

Cost Consulting and Procurement Advisory grows fastest at 11.41% a year, from USD 252.00 million to USD 742.50 million, as owners pay advisers to lock in transformer and switchgear slots.

Service Type	2025 (USD million)	Share 2025	2035 (USD million)	CAGR 2025-2035
Site Selection and Power Advisory	504.00	15.41%	1,417.50	10.89%
Owner’s Representative and Program Management	1,071.00	32.74%	2,767.50	9.96%
Cost Consulting and Procurement Advisory	252.00	7.70%	742.50	11.41%
Transaction and Technical Due Diligence	400.00	12.23%	792.00	7.07%
Energy Sustainability and Compliance Advisory	603.20	18.44%	1,586.10	10.15%
Operations and Consolidation Advisory	440.80	13.48%	933.00	7.79%

Data Center Consulting Services Market by Client Type

Hyperscale Cloud Providers spend USD 1.21 billion in 2025, and Enterprises fall from 28% of value in 2020 to 13% in 2035 as fewer firms build their own halls.

Client Type	2025 (USD million)	Share 2025	2035 (USD million)	CAGR 2025-2035
Hyperscale Cloud Providers	1,210.27	37.00%	2,965.90	9.38%
Colocation and Wholesale Developers	817.75	25.00%	2,224.42	10.52%
Investors and Lenders	425.23	13.00%	1,071.02	9.68%
Enterprises	556.07	17.00%	1,071.02	6.77%
Government and Public Sector	261.68	8.00%	906.25	13.23%

Data Center Consulting Services Market by Facility Type

Hyperscale and AI Campuses take 46.00% of 2025 value, and Edge and Modular Sites grow fastest at 13.43% a year from a small base of USD 163.55 million.

Facility Type	2025 (USD million)	Share 2025	2035 (USD million)	CAGR 2025-2035
Hyperscale and AI Campuses	1,504.66	46.00%	4,284.07	11.03%
Colocation Facilities	981.30	30.00%	2,389.19	9.31%
Enterprise Data Centers	621.49	19.00%	988.63	4.75%
Edge and Modular Sites	163.55	5.00%	576.70	13.43%

Data Center Consulting Services Market by Engagement Model

Project-Based Engagements hold 68.00% of 2025 value, and Retainer and Framework Agreements grow 10.98% a year as multi-site owners sign standing advisory panels.

Engagement Model	2025 (USD million)	Share 2025	2035 (USD million)	CAGR 2025-2035
Project-Based Engagements	2,224.28	68.00%	5,272.70	9.01%
Retainer and Framework Agreements	1,046.72	32.00%	2,965.90	10.98%

DC Exclusive: The 100 MW AI Campus Advisory Fee Teardown, USD 21.44 Million Before the First Tenant

A 100 MW AI campus buys about USD 21.44 million of outside advice before it opens, 1.89% of its USD 1,134 million facility budget, according to this DC Market Insights model built on 8 inputs: 100 MW of IT capacity, USD 10.5 million facility capex per MW, an 8% AI premium for liquid cooling and denser power, the three build-side fee rates, a USD 2.0 billion financing and two run-rate advisory rates.

Advisory line	Basis	Fee (USD million)
Site selection and power advisory	0.40% of USD 1,134 million	4.54
Owner’s representative and program management	0.85% of USD 1,134 million	9.64
Cost consulting and procurement advisory	0.20% of USD 1,134 million	2.27
Technical due diligence for the lender	0.25% of a USD 2.0 billion financing	5.00
One-off total before operation	1.89% of facility capex	21.44
Energy and compliance advice per year	USD 5,200 per MW-year	0.52
Operations advice per year	USD 3,800 per MW-year	0.38
Ten-year advisory spend	One-off plus 10 years of run-rate advice	30.44

The owner’s representative is the largest single line at 45% of the one-off fees, which is why the large engineering groups compete for program-lead roles. The lender’s due diligence costs more than the site study, because a USD 2.0 billion financing is about 1.8 times the facility budget once land, power and fit-out are included. Over ten years, run-rate compliance and operations advice adds USD 9.00 million, 30% of the total.

Regional Insights: Which Region Spends Most on Data Center Consulting?

North America leads the Data Center Consulting Services Market with 45.00% of 2025 value, USD 1.47 billion, and Asia Pacific grows fastest at 11.95% a year as India and Japan open new data center zones.

North America Data Center Consulting Services Market

North America spends USD 1.47 billion in 2025 and USD 3.38 billion in 2035, growing 8.66% a year, with Texas and the PJM states driving power advisory after ERCOT’s 410 GW large-load count and PJM’s capacity price at the USD 333.44 per MW-day cap.

Europe Data Center Consulting Services Market

Europe spends USD 752.33 million in 2025 and USD 1.73 billion in 2035, growing 8.68% a year, as EU Delegated Regulation 2024/1364 reporting and Ofgem’s queue reform keep compliance and grid advisers busy.

Asia Pacific Data Center Consulting Services Market

Asia Pacific spends USD 719.62 million in 2025 and USD 2.22 billion in 2035, the fastest at 11.95% a year, with METI’s GX strategic regions in Japan and the 300 MW IMDA roadmap in Singapore creating site and feasibility work.

Middle East and Africa Data Center Consulting Services Market

The Middle East and Africa spends USD 179.91 million in 2025 and USD 510.79 million in 2035, growing 11.00% a year, as Gulf programmes plan campuses where power and cooling designs need independent review.

Latin America Data Center Consulting Services Market

Latin America spends USD 147.19 million in 2025 and USD 395.45 million in 2035, growing 10.39% a year, led by Brazil, which holds about 45% of the region.

Country Analysis: Which Countries Spend Most on Data Center Consultants?

The United States leads with USD 1.33 billion of 2025 consulting spend, and India is the fastest large country at 16.28% a year (DC Market Insights estimate).

Rank	Country	Region	2025 (USD million)	2035 (USD million)	CAGR 2025-2035
1	United States	North America	1,332.11	3,006.27	8.48%
2	China	Asia Pacific	194.30	533.86	10.64%
3	United Kingdom	Europe	165.51	346.02	7.65%
4	Japan	Asia Pacific	143.92	378.15	10.14%
5	Germany	Europe	127.90	294.12	8.68%
6	Canada	North America	110.40	287.12	10.03%
7	India	Asia Pacific	93.55	422.64	16.28%
8	Australia	Asia Pacific	71.96	222.44	11.95%
9	Brazil	Latin America	66.24	174.00	10.14%
10	Ireland	Europe	60.19	121.11	7.24%
11	Singapore	Asia Pacific	50.37	133.47	10.23%
12	Saudi Arabia	Middle East and Africa	43.18	132.81	11.89%

India grows from USD 93.55 million to USD 422.64 million because its share of Asia Pacific consulting rises from 13% to 19% as new capacity there grows faster than in any other large market in the DC Market Insights capacity model. Canada grows 10.03% a year, faster than the United States, as its share of North American spend rises from 7.5% to 8.5%.

Forecast Scenarios: How Large Could the Data Center Consulting Services Market Be by 2035?

The Data Center Consulting Services Market reaches USD 8.24 billion in 2035 in the base case, with a range of USD 6.59 billion to USD 9.89 billion (DC Market Insights estimate).

Scenario	2035 (USD million)	CAGR 2025-2035	Assumption
Low	6,590.88	7.26%	Grid limits cut new capacity and owners move advice in-house; value 20% below base by 2035
Base	8,238.60	9.68%	New IT capacity of 22,000 MW in 2030 and 27,000 MW in 2035; advisory near 1.46% of capex
High	9,886.32	11.70%	Faster AI build-out and more asset sales; value 20% above base by 2035

Competitive Insights: Who Leads the Data Center Consulting Services Market?

The Data Center Consulting Services Market is fragmented: the top five advisers hold about 26% of 2025 value, with Turner & Townsend at about 7% (DC Market Insights estimate, based on data center practice headcount and named program roles).

• Turner & Townsend
• Jacobs
• AECOM
• Accenture (including Soben and DLB)
• WSP Global
• Arup
• Ramboll
• JLL
• Burns & McDonnell
• Black & Veatch
• Stantec
• Mott MacDonald
• Fluor
• Salute Mission Critical
• Linesight

Jacobs reported a USD 23.1 billion backlog at the end of fiscal 2025 with data centers among its growth sectors, and AECOM reported a USD 24.83 billion backlog and a fast-growing advisory practice in November 2025, according to their filings. Stantec reported a USD 8.4 billion backlog, up 14.9%, in November 2025, and WSP reported a record USD 17.1 billion backlog in February 2026 after committing USD 5.2 billion to acquisitions. Burns & McDonnell reported USD 7.2 billion of 2024 revenue and named data centers as a source of momentum. Salute Mission Critical agreed in September 2026 to buy T5 Operations, taking it to more than 15 GW of data center capacity under management.

Recent Developments in the Data Center Consulting Services Market

• In September 2026, Salute Mission Critical signed a definitive agreement to acquire T5 Operations (Source: Salute).
• In July 2026, AIP, MGX and Global Infrastructure Partners closed the acquisition of Aligned Data Centers at an enterprise value of about USD 40 billion (Source: Aligned Data Centers).
• In June 2026, FERC opened show-cause proceedings on large-load tariffs at PJM and other grid operators (Source: FERC).
• In February 2026, a KKR-led consortium with Singtel agreed to buy ST Telemedia Global Data Centres at about USD 10.9 billion (Source: Singtel).
• In January 2026, Accenture closed its 65% stake in DLB, a data center engineering and consulting firm of about 620 people (Source: Accenture).
• In January 2026, Hut 8 selected Jacobs as program lead for its 245 MW River Bend campus (Source: Jacobs).

Research Methodology: How DC Market Insights Sized the Data Center Consulting Services Market

DC Market Insights built the Data Center Consulting Services Market bottom-up from data center capacity: new IT capacity of 5,000 MW in 2020, 12,000 MW in 2025, 22,000 MW in 2030 and 27,000 MW in 2035, and installed IT load of 68 GW in 2020, 116 GW in 2025 and 311 GW in 2035.

Consulting = new MW × facility capex per MW (USD 8.5 million in 2020, USD 10.5 million in 2025, USD 12.5 million in 2035) × advisory rate (1.25%, 1.45%, 1.46%) + transacted and financed assets (USD 45 billion in 2020, USD 160 billion in 2025, USD 330 billion in 2035) × due diligence rate (0.22% to 0.25%) + installed MW × run-rate advice (USD 7,000 per MW-year in 2020, USD 9,000 in 2025, USD 8,100 in 2035). Segments, 5 regions and 12 countries are shares of the total that sum to it every year. Read more in our research methodology.

Bound checks: (1) ceiling: the 2025 value of USD 3.27 billion is 0.56% of the USD 580 billion that the International Energy Agency (IEA) expects in 2025 data center investment; (2) ceiling: build-side advice of USD 1.83 billion is 1.45% of facility capex, a quarter of the 6% federal cap on design fees and well below the USD 8.13 billion Data Center Design Market; (3) floor: named deals alone (Aligned USD 40 billion, ST Telemedia Global Data Centres USD 10.9 billion, Intersect USD 4.75 billion) total USD 55.65 billion, 35% of the USD 160 billion deal base. For grid context, see the Data Center Grid Infrastructure Interconnection Market and, for outsourced operations, the Managed Data Center Services Market.