This year marked a big shift in High Performance Computing (HPC), with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and emerging Quantum technologies establishing firm footholds in the field. These advancements have set the stage for new opportunities, redefining how we approach big compute. Here at Alces Flight, we’re taking stock of the past year’s changes and looking ahead to the next steps in this increasingly nuanced landscape.
2024: A Year of Transitions
This past year was pivotal, marked by transitions in how we focus our time, energy, and expertise within supercomputing. AI has entered the HPC conversation, and Quantum technologies are beginning to keep pace. As a result, our community is no longer just focused on parallel processing—we are evolving into a broader field of integrated capabilities. The big question remains: how do we turn the dream of usable big compute into a tangible reality?
Brace for Impact
The key to connecting this increasingly complex ecosystem isn’t exclusively about building at scale. Instead, it’s about making focused, incremental changes that connect AI, HPC, and Quantum technologies to deliver actionable outcomes. The transformation lies in addressing the foundations:
- Power and Cooling: Innovations in energy efficiency and heat management are becoming essential as systems grow more powerful and dense.
- Latency Tolerance: Defining acceptable latency levels in AI and HPC workflows will determine how effectively systems scale and collaborate.
- Applications and data: Structuring storage for real-time accessibility and maintaining unified codebases are critical for distributed environments.
Throughout 2024, the team at Alces Flight focused on simplifying the steps needed to deliver solutions that had real impact. At Edinburgh Napier University we launched an HPC cluster aimed at users looking to take their first steps into computing at scale. By consolidating their resources, and offering up a framework built on HPC best practices, we enabled the ENUCC team to offer hands-on training and critical skillset development to the next generation of contributors to our field.
At the University of York, we delivered Viking, an award-winning, ecologically friendly HPC solution. Thanks to our ability to collaborate with partners from green-energy datacenters, cutting-edge hardware, software, and networking we reduced carbon footprint while also delivering a seamless and reliable experience that users comment as exceptionally easy to use.
For 2025, we’re zeroing in on where our expertise makes the most impact. Our focus lies in creating visualization and unification for the systems we build and manage, whether they are physical, cloud-based, or hybrid. Through our subscription platform, we’re addressing the growing need for distributed systems that work seamlessly across technologies. This unification isn’t just about connectivity—it’s about simple solutions that enable rapid deployment of efficient supercomputers.
Cross-Team Collaboration: The Human Side of Technology
HPC is, fundamentally, a human endeavor. The development of diverse technologies requires the input of a wide group of people—and making that happen requires both big and small changes.
At Alces Flight, we spent the past year on a dedicated project into what it takes to move the needle on human collaboration and growth. Some key areas of the project include:
- Hiring and Retention: Building pathways to attract and retain talent that reflect the diversity of the challenges we face.
- Community Building: Rethinking events, conferences, and engagements to foster connections and encourage collaboration between teams and disciplines.
- Skill Development: Bridging knowledge gaps to empower teams to work seamlessly with emerging technologies like AI and Quantum.
Through dedicating time and resources to better understanding the way people interact not only with our technology but with each other we can better prepare ourselves and our community for faster, more efficient problem solving. Looking ahead, the future of supercomputing will belong to those who elevate people in parallel with technology. Whether through our contributions to community and academic groups, or via developing product components that work flexibly, the aim of our work is to make supercomputing a welcome place for everyone.
Green Discussions: Our Energy Future
Amid announcements of bigger systems and more ambitious goals, one discussion that deserves greater focus is energy impact. As hyperscalers explore nuclear power to meet demand, the reality for most organizations is more constrained. The question remains: how can we grow systems in a way that doesn’t monopolise resources?
The answer lies in smarter, greener solutions that leverage existing infrastructure and new energy sources. Some emerging areas include:
- Green Energy Integration: Learning from renewable energy sites to harness waste heat and develop energy-efficient distributed systems.
- Data Center Innovation: Partnering with data centers that meet next-gen demands without increasing carbon footprints or energy inefficiencies.
- Maximizing Lifespan: Extending the lifecycle of pre-existing systems and optimizing workloads to improve long-term efficiency.
At Alces Flight, we see these partnerships as critical. Our network now extends beyond hardware vendors to include energy-conscious data centers that align with our sustainability goals. This collaboration is already driving deeper insights into how our systems operate—helping us deliver on performance while improving environmental efficiency.
For 2025 we see interest in power and cooling only continuing to grow. While budgetary constraints may be a leading factor, developing long-term goals that align to a more ecologically sound future has led to big benefits. Be on the lookout as we develop more insights into this space, bringing in new concepts and voices to help guide our clients and communities towards a brighter tomorrow.
What’s Next? Building a Foundation for the Future
As we look toward 2025, supercomputing is at a crossroads. The convergence of AI, Quantum, and HPC presents opportunities to transform how we compute, collaborate, and create impact. But realizing these opportunities requires a focus on simplification, collaboration, and sustainability.
At Alces Flight, we believe the future lies in building strong foundations—not just technologically, but also through the people and partnerships that make big compute possible. By addressing these fundamental challenges, we can turn today’s ideas into tomorrow’s breakthroughs.
Next year will be about creating a future-ready playbook—one that connects the dots between AI, HPC, and Quantum, while ensuring that innovation remains sustainable and accessible for all.