Colocation Strategies for Scalable Data Centre Operations

Hyper-connected digital hubs: a dynamic approach to colocation

Organisations today still rely on colocation facilities to deploy applications and services on private clouds, writes Prasanna C, Deputy Director, Product at Epsilon. With the addition of public cloud services, this hybrid cloud environment requires colocation services that are fluid, flexible and hyper-connected. Agility needs to be built into all aspects of ICT, including colocation. At the same time, growing complexity across the entire ICT ecosystem means that organisations need to consolidate the number of vendors they are working with and simplify their management with a comprehensive end-to-end solution. With hybrid cloud on the rise and connectivity demands increasing rapidly, it’s crucial that organisations find the simplest model for connecting and optimising applications and services across digital hubs. What makes colocation hyper-connected? A hyper-connected digital hub seamlessly integrates colocation with interconnection services such as access to other network service providers, cloud on-ramps and remote peering at internet exchanges (IX). The symbiotic relationship between IXs and colocation data centres holds the internet together. As data travels across the internet, it is constantly being re-routed and re-directed between networks. With a hyper-connected digital hub, organisations can immediately access global connectivity at a single connection point. This gives them the ability to rapidly scale and adapt their digital infrastructure while efficiently interconnecting with the wider ICT environment. Some colocation providers offer these network services on demand to their tenants. Key considerations on why organisations choose colocation: Affordability – As organisations purchase or lease racks and space in a shared facility, all costs are shared amongst the tenants. This means reduced electricity, maintenance and IT staff costs. Reliability – Companies need to know that their data and services are secure and running at all times. Having unplanned downtime can be extremely expensive. Colocation providers are often better prepared to prevent unplanned downtime and ready to solve any issues to keep mission critical services running. Scalability – With colocation, companies can use cross connects to scale up their network with other service providers and businesses in the same facility. This is one of the advantages over on-premise data centres, where it is more difficult to scale. Choosing the right colocation partner The global data centre colocation market size is expected to reach $104.77 billion by 2027, expanding at a CAGR of 12.9% from 2020 to 2027, according to Grand View Research. Choosing a colocation provider can be difficult when they all seem to offer the same service-level agreement (SLA) and services such as remote hands and cross-connects. Adaptability is essential in a market that can see rapid shifts in user demand and an immediate need for new applications and services to be deployed. When choosing a colocation partner, an organisation should find a provider that ticks these eight boxes: One-stop solution – The colocation provider should offer more than basic colocation services. It should be able to deliver a suite of network solutions that an organisation might not use today, but will in the future. Physical and digital security – A good colocation facility offers redundant power supplies, multi-layered security, climate-controlled environments and robust SLAs. Strategic locations – Data centres should be located as close to end users as possible and with high interconnection density of network service providers. An interconnect ecosystem – The colocation provider must offer a highly-connected environment that enables the organisation to rapidly connect to other data centres, public clouds and also the internet exchange points (IXP). Built-in scalability – Colocation services, as well as the associated network connectivity, should offer scalable options for tenants as they grow. A flexible commercial model – The services offered have to be flexible. Otherwise, an organisation may be stuck in a long-term contract with overprovisioned infrastructure and high operating cost. On-demand cloud connectivity – An organisation can benefit from cloud on-ramps from the colocation facility. The colocation provider should be able to offer dedicated access to cloud services with secure and reliable connectivity. Continually evolving capabilities – The colocation provider must continually add more capabilities and solutions while optimising its services to new standards. Adaptable foundation for transformation The combination of the above capabilities enables the seamless growth of digital services and removes the complexity from scaling up in new markets. All capabilities are made available via a single relationship, delivered with a consistent experience across global hubs. This enables the rapid rollout of new services in new locations while supporting cloud-based services using a single platform. Colocation solutions are no longer just about space, power and security. Hyper-connected digital hubs can provide the advantages that an organisation needs with an adaptable foundation for continual transformation, and preparedness for any unexpected events with secure and trusted infrastructure.

TeleData reports record growth

TeleData, has reported 28% growth in recurring contract revenues during the first half of 2020, setting the firm on track to hit record revenues this year. This has seen the company’s well-established colocation services increase by 15%, while cloud revenue from both public and private cloud hosting solutions has grown 48%. The firm, which was traditionally a colocation provider but evolved to provide both colocation and cloud services in 2019, says that its cloud platform revenue now represents 16% of total recurring contract revenues. The announcement comes on the back of a period of significant investment for the Wythenshawe, Manchester, based firm, which recently began work on a £2m expansion project which will increase the company’s data centre footprint by 7000ft2 and bring up to 200 server racks online to enhance their colocation offering.  TeleData also invested over £1.8m into resilience, energy efficiencies and cloud product development during 2019, expanding the business’s product portfolio and strengthening its proposition as a serious player in the data centre hosting and cloud services sector. These investments are attracting not only new customers to TeleData, but also additional fibre providers which are investing heavily into the expansion of their own networks to deliver diverse solutions to network intensive clients hosted at the carrier neutral facility. This is increasing high capacity connectivity and dark fibre options for TeleData’s customers, boosting the company’s service offering and enabling TeleData to provide consistently resilient and competitive options for both cloud and colocation clients. Commercial Director, Matthew Edgley, said: “It’s been positive to see that despite the many challenges 2020 has brought, our earlier investments into connectivity and capacity are starting to reap dividends. Covid-19 brought significant hardship to a great many businesses, but as a result digital transformation has accelerated, driving the market forward as companies realise the benefits of a resilient, agile and scalable IT infrastructure. “It’s our job now to continue to provide robust and reliable solutions for our clients, making additional investments into capacity and emerging technologies where required, to enable our customers to continue to run their businesses with peace of mind that their IT infrastructures are secure and business continuity is guaranteed.”