There’s a lot that goes into managing a data centre. 

Build the infrastructure, buy the hardware, secure and maintain the facility, troubleshoot any problems. It can be a drain on your time, energy, resources and capital. It also leaves you on an island, responsible for developing all future technologies. This because to support transitioning your solutions to take advantage of the cost savings that are present and future.

While many companies are looking to the cloud to solve these problems, this isn’t a choice for some workloads and data. Some businesses requiring colocation, either in a DIY or outsourced model, would require some type of hybrid solution incorporating data security (for example DDoS, intrusion detection and prevention), hyperscale connectivity, cloud (private and public), storage, and disaster recovery planning and execution.

In that case, the best approach is a hybrid solution utilizing outsourced colocation. This approach allows companies to access expertise and services in the most cost-effective manner by leveraging the scale of a colocation provider. It also allows organizations to focus on their core business while being confident that new technologies can be quickly implemented as they become available. This is not a new concept, and you’ve likely heard of it before – but is a hybrid solution the right move for your organization?

Here are benefits of colocation as part your hybrid strategy that might you think twice about developing and delivering services in-house.

• Focus on Your Business

The management of a data centre is not a key component to your performance unless you are a colocation provider. Incorporating new technologies and business continuity as a cost centre is a necessary evil need to deliver your core services or apps.

Colocation can minimize the total cost of ownership (TCO) of a company through the size of a provider. Where resources are produce to be deliver in increments that are consistent with a business strategy. Advancements in technology and operation can also be easily and cost-effectively integrate into a business solution. Examples include; business continuity and disaster recovery, colocation, data and physical security, hyperscale connectivity, cloud, storage and other technology expertise.

Working with a provider allows an organization to embrace an overall solution, not point solutions that need to be integrate and maintain by themselves.

• Service Levels Contractually Aligned to Your Business

Outsourcing makes sense for your application of mission-critical development. You can customize the service levels to suit your product application needs. Uptime requirements as well as business continuity requirements are back up by service contracts with providers. Service levels are often develop for solutions, not for the individual components.

Does it matter that your power is available if your external connections are down? The answer is no, consumers can’t get to your product. Does it matter that your power is available if your external connections are down? The answer is no, consumers can’t get to your product.

In the end, this means better availability and uptime for your most important applications.

• Lower Your TCO

Data centres are costly to run and to handle. New technologies have a large commitment to both human and cash resources “up front.”. A DIY approach to deploying new technologies often has long runways of assessment, design, and implementation that hinder an organization’s ability to “catch up” with its competitors.

There is the upfront cost of the initial physical infrastructure. And the ongoing cost of the facilities management and troubleshooting of full-time employees. Energy costs and network connectivity are also to be consider. Not to mention the rent, taxes and other expenses for which you might be responsible.

With colocation, you turn capital expenses into operating expenses. By renting the space in a third-party data centre, you hand off the building, infrastructure and maintenance to a provider for a predictable – and lower – monthly cost. Best of all, you can take advantage of economies of scale to lower your costs while delivering more value.

• Enhance Business Continuity

Making colocation a part of your hybrid strategy can greatly improve your capacity to recover from disasters. Whether leveraging a geographically diverse colocation facility or incorporating advance recovery solutions. Working with an experience provider can ensure that you get the solutions to protect your business-critical applications properly. While offering scalability to reduce TCO.

• Improve Your Ability to Grow with Your Business

Capacity is a legitimate concern for those concerned with TCO. Often, homegrown data centres and services must be oversize initially to plan for future growth. Environments typically have a lifecycle of having too much capacity to begin with and then eventually run out of capacity as business grows.

Typically, for assume future requirements, you pay a massive upfront human and capital expense which is unlikely to be fully utilized for quite some time.

With a colocation provider, you buy and execute what best suits your current business needs, with the ability to expand rapidly as these requirements change and evolve.