Enterprises are moving data off-site. In a survey conducted by IDG, 41% of organizations said they plan to move their entire data center within a multi-tenant environment (also called a colocation facility) in the next 12 months*. Remember the old adage: “good, fast, cheap – pick any two”? Seems that colocation providers are revamping that into: “100% reliable, near light speed and more cost-effective than doing it in-house.”

Considerations Beyond Data Center Cost

Comparing the costs – of IT personnel, hardware, data transport and even data center physical security – is important, of course. That said, any enterprise evaluating moving some or all on-premises data center-related IT operations is faced with many factors to weigh, including some you might not have considered to date:

• Mobility & Content – Colocation puts data, apps and digital content at the network edge, making it easier for your mobile workforce to assess the information and processes they need, and customers (and those evaluating your company) access to influential content.
• Downtime – You’ve been hearing about the impact of downtime for years; fact is, it’s more expensive than ever, both in terms of revenue and reputation. Colocation providers have built-in redundancies across systems and operations and 100% uptime SLAs.
• Interconnection – Carrier neutral colocation provides access to multiple ISPs, and the flexibility to connect with a variety of cloud services providers and enterprises.
• Flexibility – With many enterprises adjusting their IT workloads from on-premises to cloud, and many times back again, having flexibility in their data center requirements becomes increasingly important.
• Physical Build-Out – Expanding an on-premises data center can’t happen if the building you are in can’t be expanded. In some cases, the power and cooling that dense servers require exceeds the electrical and HVAC capabilities the building can deliver.
• Time – This is the factor that puts a smile on the face of IT teams, who would rather be developing new apps and processes than dealing with the pressure of uptime and data center operations.

What’s ideal is that the options, enriched by private/public/hybrid cloud deployment possibilities, are making colocation pricing just one part of the business case, and you don’t have to settle for best two out of three.

*MOVE TO THE FUTURE: Off-Site Data Centers Gain Momentum