Demand for Colocation Data Centers Fueled by Move to the Cloud

With more companies shifting part of their IT infrastructure to the cloud, the colocation data center is emerging as a viable solution to providing physical distance between cloud providers and company servers. That type of interest is behind projections that the colocation market will surpass the $55 billion mark by 2021, according to Research and Markets.

“You can view colocation as being a mid-point between the traditional model of enterprises running their own data centers and moving fully to the public cloud,” said Synergy Research Group’s Chief Analyst John Dinsdale in an article for the Wall Street Journal.

This type of hybridization, why may include a mix of private and public cloud resources or a hybridization involving a colocation environment, provides companies with a greater deal of flexibility than other options.

Advantages of colocation

Companies utilizing the cloud can find efficiencies in using colocation centers, bypassing the need to build out their own infrastructure, according to Philbert Shih, managing director of Structure Research in Toronto.

It also allows a company to dedicate manpower and other resources to their core competencies instead of managing data center operations, he said. “You can imagine the waste when an organization builds a large data center for themselves, and it turns out they only need 50 percent after they’ve laid out significant capex to build it,” Shih said in a CenturyLink blog.

Colocation also allows a company to scale according to their needs.

Finding a solution that works

When implementing a hybrid cloud solution, companies should consider a number of factors including assessing how a migration to the cloud will impact applications; assessing security, workload requirements and regulatory concerns; and carefully reviewing the services offered by hosting and colocation partners.

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

Rich Banta

Managing Member at Lifeline Data Centers

Rich is responsible for Compliance and Certifications, Data Center Operations, Information Technology, and Client Concierge Services. Rich has an extensive background in server and network management, large scale wide-area networks, storage, business continuity, and monitoring. Rich is a former CTO of a major health care system. Rich is hands-on every day in the data centers. He also holds many certifications, including: CISA – Certified Information Systems Auditor CRISC – Certified in Risk & Information Systems Management CDCE – Certified Data Center Expert CDCDP – Certified Data Center Design Professional