Colocation Deployment: Key Cost Drivers to Evaluate
With time we have witnessed a steady trend of many organizations moving their DCs from on-site to a co-located space to reduce capital expenditure, achieve higher operational efficiencies, and leverage state-of-the-art infrastructures of colocation facilities.
More than half of the organizations participating in this research study have indicated that they intend to use colocation services for all or majority of their DC requirements.
As mentioned above, one of the significant advantages of colocation services is the reduction of capital expenditure. Colocation by its virtue converts this capital expenditure to an opex-based model. However, the expenditure model has shifted from a capex-based to an opex-based model and does not guarantee savings in the long run.
The listed price listed on your contract may not include some of the value-added services and support-level expectations which are mission-critical for your organization.
We must be aware of the services/solutions offered by these colocation players to maximize the value out of the deals we are getting into. By no means exhaustive, but highlighting some of the areas, you might want to consider during your next round of negotiations on colocations facilities.
Data backup: Business continuity and Disaster Recovery are strong use cases but are not usually included under basic colocation fees. While you can lease additional space to implement a backup service, managing it can be complex. Some of the colo players provide backup services as a managed service.
Datacenter Interconnect: Internet connectivity and bandwidth typically aren't included in colocation fees. Moreover, technologies such as Datacenter Interconnect, where two or more DCs are connected over short, medium, or long distances using high-speed packet-optical connectivity, are also not part of the basic pricing. From BC/DR to helping enterprises scale their infrastructure, use cases of DCI have grown in recent years.
Service Support: Since colocation services are hosted from remote locations, timely support becomes a critical element. It's essential to have a detailed discussion about all the provider's support costs and response times and what features are included in the costing.
