How to Choose the Right Data Center for Your Business, Part 1: Defining Your Requirements

The power and popularity of the cloud have driven many enterprises to rethink their data center investments. One of the biggest pitfalls in this process is shifting everything to the cloud before clearly defining network and business requirements.

Bottom line: some applications and workloads are a great fit for the cloud; some aren’t. That doesn’t mean, however, that businesses can't reap the benefits of the cloud. In fact, colocation service providers deliver many of the benefits of a cloud infrastructure, including scalability, reliability, and speed, with the security and structure of a physical data center approach.

The myth of the commoditized data center

Unfortunately, many organizations start and stop the process of selecting an outsourced data center at price. There are actually a number of other considerations that go into selecting a data center – and they're equally as important and far more nuanced than price points.

Here are five other business requirements that deserve strong consideration when selecting a data center:

1. Location. Where are your offices located? Data is fast, but it still has to travel and travel takes time. If your business relies on instant information and communication, location matters.
2. Performance. How much bandwidth do you need today, and what will you need in five years? These requirements dictate your requirements for data center’s capacity and its flexibility around solution offerings.
3. Availability. It’s important to define your expectations around SLAs and availability and encode those priorities into your search for the right data center provider.
4. Compliance. Make sure to review any regulatory concerns related to security and availability in your search for the right colocation provider in order to avoid fees and penalties down the road.
5. Connectivity. Especially if you’re a high-frequency trading company, determine the speeds you need to keep up with your business and hold your data centers accountable to those expectations.

All third-party data centers are not created equal. Pinpoint exactly what your business needs from a colocation provider before assessing your options so you know that you’re covered, today and in the future.

Considering a colocation services provider? Connect with vXchnge's solutions architects today for expert assistance in defining your data center requirements.