Long gone are the days when on-premises data centers were the center of the action. In a recent survey, respondents revealed what they’re using in their hybrid infrastructure mix: on-premises (29%), multicloud (44%), colocation (49%), hybrid cloud (62%), public cloud (68%) and private cloud (70%)¹.
As the infrastructure mix changes, so do considerations related to workload placement. Every decision has implications for risk, security, compliance, cost, performance, redundancy, diversity and resilience. And now edge computing is part of the discussion. All these variables complicate decisions, especially since decision makers have to put a stake in ground that’s constantly shifting.
Let’s look at a few hybrid IT considerations that factor into workload location:
Are there other technical, financial and operational considerations? Of course. The point is that you’ll want to be systematic about rating or prioritizing decision factors by type of hybrid infrastructure (on-premises, colocation and so on).
Despite the myriad variables that factor into workload location, patterns have emerged. Here are a few highlights from the State of the Data Center report:
Cloud adjacency puts hardware and dedicated workloads close to the public cloud and provides access to cloud onramps (for CoreSite customers). The result? Reduced latency. A few colocation providers offer direct connection to the major cloud service providers – an operating advantage that reduces data replication costs by as much as 70% and eliminates data egress costs when restoring data from certain local cloud availability zones.* Additionally, direct connections keep data off the internet and associated security vulnerabilities.
CoreSite is a colocation provider that supports an ecosystem consisting of enterprises, IT service providers, managed services providers, network operators, cloud service providers, content delivery networks and other businesses. Interconnection (through private, physical connections) enables enterprises in the ecosystem to exchange data. Because they all are side-by-side in the same data center, it’s easy to do business together and create frictionless customer experiences.
Also, when colocation is part of the hybrid infrastructure, enterprises are better able to optimize their IT staff’s productivity and computing resources. With fewer workloads to manage on-premises, for example, IT staffs can focus on ways to differentiate a business through innovative customer services, business process improvements, partnerships or other initiatives.
Nearly half of enterprises already use colocation in their hybrid IT mix. It’s the smart choice for many workloads, and the added bonus of an ecosystem and interconnection can accelerate digital transformation.
For more information, take a look at the State of the Data Center infographic and download the entire report.
1. IDG, State of the Data Center Report, 2021
*Cost savings are based on CoreSite cost comparisons using publicly available and private information and/or CoreSite customer reported costs savings and may not be indicative of the costs savings that may be experienced by every customer that switches to the applicable CoreSite service.
Maile Kaiser
SVP of Sales & Business Development
Maile is the Senior Vice President of Sales for CoreSite.
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