colocation & outsourcing
LEAD THE WAY – OR LOSE
Richard Jenkins of Romonet explains the right metrics a colocation data centre should take into
consideration when assessing the current state of its facilities, what issues are impacting its energy
efficiency and how the whole facility and return on investment is affected by these factors.
T
he colocation market is in
a period of phenomenal
transition. Enterprises
are moving heavily to the
cloud and they expect
the same from their service providers.
Operators are facing a dilemma:
adapt, or suffer the consequences.
In business terms, this means either
provide a suitable IT environment to
enable customer hybrid computing
strategies, or experience diminishing
returns and shrinking profitability as
companies look elsewhere.
This is why the sector is
consolidating so rapidly. Large
data centre service providers are
buying smaller colocation and cloud
companies in order to maintain
margins and to grow faster, especially
into new and edge markets.
Offering space and power
alone is no longer a viable business
model. Operators have to diversify
service offerings to become the very
thing enterprises have moved away
from – full IT providers. Colocation
companies must invest in, and
manage, the complete IT stack - from
racks and servers, to the value added
services that are layered on top.
22
Spoilt for choice
The right data
As a result, any provider still
maximising operational efficiency is
focused on the wrong objective. It
should be a given that facilities perform
to the high efficiency standards that
companies have come to expect from
all areas of the business.
When larger enterprises outsource
their data centres, they want their
service provider to manage their data
centre exactly as if they were running
it themselves. Customers need their
outsourced IT services to be available
100 per cent of the time. This puts
an extraordinary level of pressure
on the provider, especially if their
main business model was traditional
colocation services. Many operators
are unprepared for the shift towards
cloud computing service models
– they lack accurate data on the
operational and financial performance
of these environments.
Furthermore, organisations
also want their service provider to
reflect their wider business values.
Customers have their own CSR
policies, metrics and KPIs, and they
want to see a strong commitment to
sustainability best practice.
So, with such a multitude of complex
challenges to solve, how does the
operator remain competitive?
First ensure that capital
investments and current infrastructure
are aligned with these new operating
models. Next, search for analytics
tools and software that enable all
areas of the business to better
understand and analyse current data
centre estates. These solutions can
also provide quantifiable evidence to
customers so they can meet their
own financial and CSR targets.
Shareholders equally want visibility
into how upcoming investments
will play out commercially. Are they
performing financially and supporting
the intended migration towards
becoming a more competitive hybrid
IT provider?
Boards have already recognised
the need for change. Many
shareholders are pushing executives
and operational teams to implement
smarter analytics tools and advanced
business intelligence solutions.
Shareholders want the business to
benefit from the latest advancements
promised by artificial intelligence (AI)