For those new to the topic, co-location allows customers to locate their IT infrastructure in our Data Centers, ensuring the highest level of uptime and network performance for critical business systems. From a single server, half, full, or several contiguous racks, we can accommodate infrastructure of any size.??
In prior decades many companies preferred to build their infrastructure on-premise. As the complexity and the number of systems needed have increased, the hardware sprawl has become a real problem for businesses that have grown but haven’t been able to scale properly.??
The traditional NOC or server closet on-premise can reach a point where it is too small to handle the additional equipment needed. There is also the issue of an aging infrastructure that would need to be rebuilt or replaced, at what is typically an extremely high cost. Many companies also have multiple locations with an HQ that can’t serve the branch offices as needed, from a bandwidth standpoint.
Due to these concerns and others, many IT teams are no longer seeking to build their own NOC but rather outsource it to a place that offers them the flexibility, scalability, bandwidth, redundancy, and security that a data center offers.
Gartner stated in February 2019 that 10% of companies surveyed have already done just that, with another 70% to follow suit by 2025.?
With a plethora of reasons why a business may choose to store its equipment in a co-location facility instead of its physical location, it’s no wonder we are seeing this trend.?
Below are several examples of both benefits and use cases of using a co-location solution.
- Uptime – Due to redundant systems such as those for bandwidth, power, and cooling, the likelihood of an outage happening is significantly reduced versus having it on-premise.
- Cost Reduction – Reliable and robust enterprise environment without having to invest in all of the necessary items for an equivalent on-premise experience.??
- Budgeting – Knowing the exact monthly cost makes budgeting highly predictable, as opposed to fluctuating charges on power, bandwidth, maintenance, etc. that may occur on-premise.
- Reliability, Flexibility & Scalability – With plenty of available and redundant bandwidth, power, cooling & rack space, it is easy to add more equipment as the business grows and changes.
- Enhanced Security – Equipment is housed in a fully monitored, highly secure, escort-only facility with biometric access and a customer check-in system. It is hard to get this level of security from a standard office building.
- Bandwidth – We have large pipes with multiple connections from multiple carriers. Due to the large volume we handle, businesses benefit from our economies of scale, securing better service at a lower cost.
- Technical Services – Available for co-located equipment, ranging from basic operating system installation, maintenance, and support all the way to fully managed, security, application, and hardware support services. Decreases the workload on the IT staff.
- Disaster Recovery – Some companies will keep everything on-premise but have an offsite backup co-located, providing the ability to recover the functionality of the IT infrastructure after catastrophic natural, technological, or human-related incidents.
- Replication – We have extensive network connectivity between all of our locations, which allows a business to have current copies of its data in multiple locations.
- Hybrid Environments – Some applications and services will need to remain on-premise, while for others it makes more sense to have it co-located for the reasons listed above, making a combination of both ideal in certain situations.
- Control – For organizations that prefer to own their equipment, instead of having it provided as a service, co-location allows that while still providing all of the other data center benefits
- Transition to Cloud – Making the move from co-location to a private cloud is the next logical step if the equipment aging out can be virtualized. Already being in the data center makes the transition that much easier. It also allows for better budgeting on the equipment side, as it will be converted from a capital expense to an operating expense.?
Now that you know about some of the various ways that co-location can benefit your business, please reach out to discuss, should you have further questions. We also do tours of our facilities upon request. Hope to see you soon!
