IT Demands Spur Continued Growth for Colocation Centers

With no end in sight for industries’ demands for big data, the Internet of Things (IoT), and mobile applications, companies are constantly faced with the challenge to scale IT capacity — and quickly.

That’s what seems to be driving continued growth for the colocation market — which has grown 11 percent since 2015. That growth rate is projected to continue for the next two years, according to 451 Research’s Datacenter Market Sizing Forecast Model.

Should you choose to outsource to a colocation data center to meet increasing demands for capacity and flexibility, it’s important to keep various requirements in mind to find the right fit. Here are key considerations:

Reliability: Many colocation centers have a rating from the Uptime Institute, which issues certifications that determine the reliability of a data center to maintain uptime. Using a tier system, the Uptime Institute determines the likelihood of a data center experiencing outages. For a company outsourcing to a data center, this is a critical factor as even a few minutes of downtime can lead to significant financial losses as well as a negative impact on the brand’s reputation. Ask vendors for additional information to gauge uptime, including details of redundancy and overall response strategies in case of an outage.

Security: The colocation facility should feature solid security measures that protect physical equipment from intruders as well as data from cyberattacks. These can include various measures, including security guards, video cameras and biometric scanners.

Innovative: As the demands of the industry increase, there’s a pressure to ensure a higher rate of uptime — no matter the threat. For instance, at Lifeline Data Centers, we’re investing in innovations to produce one of the first EMP-ready commercial data centers in the world. Government officials and researchers have been warning of the fallout resulting from an electromagnetic pulse incident, caused by nature or a nuclear blast.

Choosing a partner to meet your data center requirements demands careful consideration. Contact us to learn more about our services and state-of-the-art equipment. We look forward to starting a conversation about your goals and needs.

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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.