3 Reasons to Upgrade Data Center Operations Through Colocation

If you’re facing the same dilemma as many companies, you’re likely analyzing alternatives to your aging data center equipment. With the average data center in the United States coming upon 18 to 20 years of age, it’s not an uncommon challenge.

Coupled with shortcomings with equipment, the demands on data centers are steadily increasing, with some experts predicting that American data centers will require six times the electricity of New York City by 2020. Late models just aren’t equipped to handle that type of demand.

If you’re dealing with aging facilities, chances are you’ve been operating with a hybrid data center model by now — relying on your legacy equipment and cloud infrastructures. However, it may be time to modernize your data center facility as well.

“To support growing business demands on IT, enterprises are freeing up budgets and investing in modernizing neglected data center facilities,” said Dan Harrington, Research Director at 451 Research.

According to a survey by 451 Research, organizations are consolidating their local data centers and server rooms to move to a more centralized model supplemented by colocation and cloud resources. The survey respondents also said they planned to close many of their small local data centers and server rooms within a two-year period. And many of them are considering adopting colocation and cloud providers over building a new data center. Another 451 study shows that the colocation market is growing at a rate of 8 percent.

Ready for an upgrade? Here are 3 reasons why a colocation solution might be your best bet:

1. Less upfront costs. With a colocation solution, you avoid the need to invest in capital to build out your own facility, which requires additional space, equipment, and security. Colocation options typically are considered an operational expense.

2. No need to hire specialized staff. When hiring staff, you can focus on building out your team in areas that advance your company — sales, management, marketing, and services, instead of data center support staff. Additionally, you can avoid the expense of hiring your own security staff.

3. Ability to scale. With colocation solutions, you’ll have flexibility to scale to accommodate additional capacity or capabilities. Companies are no longer viewing colocation services as just space, power and cooling but seeking a vendor that can provide a data center solution.

Lifeline Data Centers, which provide colocation solutions in the Midwest, is dedicated to providing clients with secure and quality data center solutions. Contact us to find out how we can meet your data center needs.

Other resources:

• Infographic: The 22 Data Center Compliance Acronyms You Need to Know
• White Paper: Why Data Center Compartmentalization is Important
• Lifeline One Sheet: What You Need to Know About Lifeline Data Centers

Alex Carroll

Managing Member at Lifeline Data Centers

Alex, co-owner, is responsible for all real estate, construction and mission critical facilities: hardened buildings, power systems, cooling systems, fire suppression, and environmentals. Alex also manages relationships with the telecommunications providers and has an extensive background in IT infrastructure support, database administration and software design and development. Alex architected Lifeline’s proprietary GRCA system and is hands-on every day in the data center.