6 benefits of moving your data to a colocation facility
An online presence is vital for any business, but when you take into account the cost of servers, security, bandwidth, maintenance, and network monitoring, maintaining that online presence can become prohibitively expensive. As a result, 55% of managers are currently in the process of increasing their use of colocation facilities or retiring their in-house server rooms in favor of moving to a colocation facility.
A colocation facility is, quite simply, a purpose-built compound that houses the servers and data storage units for a number of different businesses. Rather than paying the costs associated with maintaining their own in-house equipment, companies pay to rent space, equipment, and bandwidth from the colocation provider, which in turn takes care of maintenance and technical support.
The benefits of moving to a colocation facility are numerous. Here are just a few of the reasons why it might be the right decision for your business.
Security is a priority
Colocation facilities house servers and data storage hardware for dozens of different companies. As such, security is one of their top priorities. Most make use of surveillance cameras, access control, around-the-clock security presence, and sophisticated hardware to keep their servers safe. Without an extremely high budget, it’s unlikely that an in-house server room will be able to match the level of security offered by a colocation facility.
Remote data storage is safer
There’s an inherent advantage in locating your servers away from your premises. When servers are stored within an office, a fire or flood can not only devastate the building but also destroy any sensitive data you stored there. Moving to a colocation facility can make disaster recovery significantly easier, save you the cost of data loss, and allow you to keep doing business even during times of crisis.
Maintenance is taken care of
In order to keep any data center running smoothly, regular maintenance is crucial. Systems need to be tested, connections monitored, and hardware routinely upgraded. Moving to a colocation facility means that you no longer have to worry about these maintenance procedures. Additionally, most colocation facilities have built-in redundancies. This means that if a piece of hardware or a connection does fail, replacing it is seamless and quick.
Colocation facilities are already certified
You may be storing sensitive data on your servers. In some cases, you may need to provide certification to your customers in order to do so. Meeting the requirements for certification can be a complex process, and the cost of getting certified and maintaining that certification is another expense to take into account. Moving to a colocation facility will save you this trouble, as most already hold many common certifications.
Ease of scalability
Hopefully, your business is growing. Scalling up your operations when you use a colocation facility is easy. Enlarging and upgrading an in-house server room can be a nightmare. By comparison, increasing the server space you rent from a colocation facility is a simple and straightforward process and can happen in a matter of minutes.
Moving to a colocation facility could save you money
If the above reasons weren’t enough to convince you, it’s also worth bearing in mind a study by BCC Research that shows moving to a colocation facility can significantly reduce costs. Colocation facilities benefit from an economy of scale. They are already providing enhanced security, up-to-date hardware, round-the-clock monitoring and maintenance for their other clients; it’s cost-effective for them to extend these services to you.
