When it comes to the move towards hybrid IT, colocation is undeniably the segment that is fastest growing. More and more, it is proving to be the logical choice for customers, regardless of the industry they come from.
At our recent Planning for hybrid IT broadcast, Conapto CCO Stefan Nilsson hosted a session looking at colocation and hybrid solutions for enterprise data centers’ challenges.
Enterprise data centers hold a unique position in the data center industry, in that they are operated by businesses whose main product/service is not the running of the data center.
It, therefore, makes sense that these facilities would face challenges different to hyperscale or Edge facilities, and the solutions may need to be even more nuanced.
Stefan Nilsson explored these specific challenges.
“The obvious one is that you are probably running an outdated data center. You're stuck in long agreements or have facility and infrastructure which means that you have a lot of long CapEx investments.
“If you have an outdated data center, you will probably also struggle with quite bad energy efficiency, which will have a large impact on your energy costs, and if you're not in the core business of delivering a data center, you are maybe a company selling clothes or you're the company selling groceries and your core business is not running your data center, it means that you will probably have a hard time keeping up with new demands and new regulations.
The enterprise facilities seem to struggle with the standard industry challenges but in a more specific way. For example, they too are hit by the infamous skills shortage.
“We have seen alarming statements all over the world in regards to finding competent people for this specific line or industry, and if you have a small data center and you're competing with a lot of the bigger ones, then obviously you will have a hard time attracting the right people to the right places.”
These challenges can all be encompassed into one overarching theme: cost.
“The last part is maybe the most obvious one – is that it is quite expensive to manage, upgrade and maintain a data center facility.”
With these challenges in mind, it stands to reason that there ought to be a better option available.
Conapto argues that their concept of sale leaseback, could be that very solution.
"It [sale leaseback] is about us buying your data center, leasing it back to you as a colocation offering, and at some point gradually starting to move that capacity into one of our modern colocation facilities. Then, when that is done, decommission and close down your own facility, which then can be used for other purposes than running a data center."