Intelligent CIO North America Issue 17 | Page 53

FEATURE : DATA CENTERS

The case for colocation – a host of benefits

Lex Boost , Chief Executive Officer of Leaseweb USA , tells us that colocation can offer an ideal solution for organizations that want to balance the availability of agile , high performance IT infrastructure with a manageable OPEX cost model . He says : “ The result can be a win-win for digital businesses focused on meeting the needs of their staff and customers alike .”

Colocation hosting is a tried and trusted approach to technology infrastructure strategy that allows organizations to locate their server , network equipment and storage in a specialist third-party data center .

In doing so , they can connect their privately-owned servers to a variety of telecommunications and network service providers , reducing their own technology overheads in the process .
As such , it has become a compelling option for organizations that value its inherent flexibility , ability to scale , security options and reliability . The result is that it has become a popular and rapidly growing segment of the data center industry .
According to one recent piece of market analysis , for instance , the global data center colocation market size was valued at US $ 49.21 billion this year and is predicted to grow to US $ 117.82 billion by 2028 .
But what particular advantages can colocation offer over an on-premises strategy and what should organizations have on their shopping list when comparing one colocation supplier against another ?
1 . Cost control
One of the main reasons organizations move from an on-premises to a colocation strategy is cost control . In particular , building and maintaining in-house infrastructure is not just a matter of physical space , but
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