I N D U S T R Y I N T E L L I G E N C E comfortable a prospective customer will be in making a move .
The availability and calibre of the onsite engineering resources on hand to assist with or completely manage customer server installation logistics and technical issues will be a further bonus . The location of the facility will be a major consideration too . Among other factors , space and service pricing is also influenced by location due to the cost of real estate and labour . Out-of-town locations that are free from the risks and constraints of metro locations are likely to offer lower unit costs .
Colo evaluation checklist :
• Avoid cost being the overriding decision criteria : The data centre is critical to delivering the overall project and its actual cost is often relatively modest by comparison .
• Don ’ t procure to a rigid specification : Let the operator demonstrate how they run their facility instead .
• Space , power and connectivity : An abundance of all will be key to meeting future expansion .
• Uptime : Investigate any historical failures ; request a written response on longterm history of service continuity and SLA conformance .
• Check how the critical facility has been invested , architected and operated ; meet the people and decide if they have the right attitude and will be good to work with .
• Check the management reporting on service , capacity , utilisation and compliance is done transparently ; a good third-party operator should provide greater control and insights for managing the service than doing it yourself .
Arpen Tucker , Senior Business Development Manager , UK , Vantage Data Centers
In summary , as more enterprises reassess how and from where they manage and deliver their IT workloads , hybrid cloud solutions comprising colocation-hosted mission-critical workloads and seamlessly connected public cloud applications and services will evolve as a highly compelling proposition . This places an even greater emphasis on the quality and scalability of colocation facilities . �
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