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Colocation allows a business to lease space for its own servers at a shared data center in order to take advantage of state-of-the-art infrastructure without having to risk huge amounts of CAPEX. The colocation provider maintains the physical space, provides connectivity in various forms, and ensures the physical security of the clients’ equipment. If your business is considering collocating, it’s important to note that your company would still manage its proprietary hardware, ensuring that your business remains under your control.
You may be wondering if colocation is the right choice for you. To help weigh the benefits, here are seven reasons why colocation could be the right solution for your business.
Reliability
Downtime costs. Don’t let your business suffer due to power outages, overheated servers, or lost connections. Data centers and colocation facilities are optimized to prevent your business from losing access to critical systems and connectivity. These facilities feature fully redundant power – including multiple grids, diesel generators, and multiple battery backups – advanced cooling equipment, and best-in-class air filtration systems to provide constant connectivity.
Risk Management
Colocation protects your business from threats to your mission-critical hardware, ensuring business continuity in a crisis. If your servers are at risk, your systems and data are at risk. Housing your most valuable equipment at a fully redundant, off-site data center specifically designed to protect your hardware means crucial systems will continue to operate regardless of inclement weather, other acts of God, and man-made emergencies that could result in catastrophic failure. Colocation facilities are staffed with experienced specialists dedicated to maintaining connectivity to your digital lifeline – affording you peace of mind that your business can remain operable come what may.
Scalability
With colocation, you only pay for the space and power you use. Your business has the flexibility to easily scale up or down to meet your changing needs.
Affordability
Data colocation saves companies money by reducing or eliminating capex commitments required to house, maintain, and protect the servers necessary to business operations. Just the space and staffing required for an adequately maintained data center have significant costs; add in electricity and connectivity costs, and you’re looking at a major investment for minimum levels of operation. For most businesses, outsourcing this functionality results in significant savings and associated increases to profits.
Performance
Electronic equipment performs best in a constant cool temperature and a dust-free environment. Even the cleanest offices can’t compare with the cooling and air filtration systems that a professional data center provides.
Security
Colocation facilities are designed specifically to ensure that your systems are protected from fires, thieves, hackers, and other threats that can compromise the security of your data. Network security (robust firewalls, IDS systems, etc.) detect and prevent unauthorized access to your business systems. Your servers will be kept secure from physical threats thanks to features like biometric scanners, coded access panels, and anti-tailgating technologies. The physical infrastructure of the data center is engineered to withstand floods, storms, tornadoes, and fires.
Experience
On-site staff have years of experience in maintaining the data center’s infrastructure, and they are qualified to build, implement, and maintain this infrastructure with specialized equipment.
Do you have the security expertise to keep your data, network, and users safe from cybercriminals?
