By Sungard Availability Services
Server huggers are reluctant to change. They like having their data center on premise. They want complete control over sensitive data, and they prefer to have access to hardware at any and all times.
That’s why they may view moving to colocation as a step in the wrong direction. However, that viewpoint might be a bit misguided.
Running your own data center is not cheap. It takes time, resources and capital. You have to think about building your infrastructure, buying hardware and keeping your facility secure. It’s a lot to worry about.
Sure, with colocation you’re moving your servers offsite to a third-party data center. But, remember, you’re just renting space. They’re still YOUR servers. And think of all the benefits.
This arrangement allows you to turn capital expenses into operating expenses by handing off the building, infrastructure and maintenance responsibilities to a provider for a predictable – and lower – monthly cost. You gain access to expertise, your business-critical applications are properly secured in a third-party colocation facility, you only pay for what you need and you can quickly scale as your business grows.
Best of all, colocation can pave the way for moving workloads and data to the public or private cloud. If you want to take advantage of the cloud but aren’t quite ready to make the full leap, colocation can be a happy medium. It lets you maintain access and control over your data – which is especially important in highly regulated industries – and pursuing a hybrid cloud strategy with colocation can make the transition easier.
It’s understandable if you’re protective over your servers. But that’s no reason to protest a move to colocation. Colocation takes data center maintenance off your hands, while keeping you in control of your data and allowing you to ease into developing a cloud-first strategy.
You say, “Save the Server”. With colocation, you actually do just that – and more.
