- 864-867-1600
- ebost@technologyresourcegrp.com
- Mon - Fri: 9:00am - 6:00pm
Selecting the Right Colocation Provider
Give us a call or fill out a contact form for a free consultation! 864-867-1600
What is Colocation
Colocation is the process of hosting tasks – critical servers and storage in your own telecommunications cabinet or data center. Most companies recognize that internal data centers, even if they are critical, are not meeting their IT business strategy. Instead of simply focusing on their core competencies, many companies choose to move their entire IT infrastructure to a third-party data center operated by a colocation provider.
The benefits of moving servers to a colocation facility include the ability to manage and resolve shared data centre infrastructure and tasks. However, it is not always easy to switch from internal data centers to colocations and / or data centers.
The relocation of servers, storage, networks and devices requires thorough planning and careful consideration. Fears of change are often the biggest obstacle to moving to a data center, so companies need to consider five key considerations to find the best approach to meeting companies “needs and goals. Once a company makes the transition, it must find the right colocation facility for its needs, such as the ability to support hardware remotely.
Businesses should therefore clarify what their long-term goals are for their data centre and represent all those involved in the technology. Different departments may have different goals or objectives that influence the data centre strategy. The underlying technology is supported by technologies that support business objectives such as data storage, network, storage and network infrastructure, and data management.
Where to Start?
The first step is to bring all parties together, and that includes identifying all those involved. It is important to have people who contribute to the overall strategy, goals and goals for each goal.For example, management is not aware of all the problems that technicians face, but this group of employees should be involved. This ensures that all perspectives and usage scenarios of the data centre are analysed.
After the consultation to identify the objectives themselves, the next step is to bring all stakeholders together and draw up a list of the main objectives or targets that are in the context of the data center. The objectives of stakeholders must be long-term – long-term, high – objectives that they want to achieve, such as improving the availability of data centers or reducing uptime. These objectives will then have to be assessed by interested parties as to whether or not the overall objective has been achieved. The targets are short-term milestones that support the goals, are measurable and contain a specific timetable from start to finish.
From there, the group can think about the strategic implementation of its goals and create a platform for a comprehensive data center strategy. Once the objectives and objectives are defined, the discussion can move on to defining the criteria for choosing the colocation provider and data center setup.
Not all data centers are the same, and there are many different types of data centers being built, from single-story to multi-story, with different purposes and upgrades. There are also different levels that indicate the number of redundant systems in the data center. Tier I data centers are the lowest in terms of availability and redundancy, Tier IV data centers the highest. Redundancy in data centers plays an important role in the amount of downtime expected during the year.
What About the Cost?
Last but not least, many companies will be thinking about how much they want to spend on colocation services and the length of the contract is also important. In addition, the ability to connect directly to the cloud and access data directly from the data center will also be an important factor in the decision-making process. This includes the network architecture that is already integrated with other data centers such as the local or national network and other cloud services.
Will the company focus on a hybrid infrastructure approach or will it move 100% to the cloud at some point? The long-term technological drivers are cloud computing, cloud storage, data center infrastructure or a combination of both.
Request for Proposal
The purpose of the RFP is to obtain a standardized response or response from the provider. This allows parallel comparisons and allows executives to negotiate on the basis of these answers. The best way to develop a tender is to draw up a list of all options available to the company in terms of cloud and data center infrastructure.
Building an RFP that takes into account your specific business needs is crucial to finding the right colocation provider. Information about the provider should be included in the proposal, including binding requirements such as performance required to support current and future growth requirements. For people with a business background, the RPRF offers the possibility to include information about the business model, business objectives, financial data and other relevant information. Colocation RFI provides a detailed description of the company and its needs, as well as a list of options available to you.
It is also crucial to give the colocation provider the opportunity to describe what they offer and how they handle the delivery. The FFP should also request information about the business model, business objectives, financial data and other relevant information.
Other Things to Consider
Other questions you can ask yourself are: When was the data center last down time and how did you react? What is the history of downtime, whether due to a power failure, power failure, data loss or other issues?
These questions help you determine the best location for your data center and the most cost-effective and effective option. It is important to recognize that data centers are usually redundant and offer significantly better reliability than office buildings.
Once the answers are received, it is important to compare apples with apples to determine the best location for your data center and the most cost-effective option. The assessment of the supplier’s response can take the form of a set of requirements set out in the written RFP, as well as a thorough analysis of the customer’s needs.
Next, the prices and conditions should be on the list, then the data center and the name and contact information of the colocation provider.
At this point you can request the contract and the final price, but make sure you read the contract carefully. The colocation RFP process allows you to compare suppliers and services based on apples – with apples. This is made possible by legal efforts to review and amend contracts and also influences the negotiation of terms and prices for services.
Most colocation providers allow you to customize the contract to suit your customer’s needs and announce the move – in terms of date, date and other terms.
If your company is ready to consider colocation options, our experienced team is ready to address any concerns and go over your companies RFP to make sure every colocation need of your business is met.
