Data Centers – The Big Get Bigger

April 30, 2014

“Data center design, construction, technology and administration is sufficiently expensive, specialized and scalable, both horizontally to bigger facilities and vertically to multiple tenants, that data center operations are increasingly a game for specialists.”
Kurt Marko, IT Analyst, Information WeekThe Big Get Bigger

When writing the above for Network Computing, Kurt was referring to the results from last year’s Uptime Institutes’ 2013 Annual Data Center Industry Survey which clearly placed wholesale data centers and their growth as a key finding. In past updates I have provided, we have noted how clouds benefit from the increasing availability of wholesale data center space, and the tier levels that need to be considered when thinking about uptime for any type of enterprise computing environment.

He also points out that the “default position” for enterprise data centers has shifted from maintaining only “in-house facilities” to outsourcing. As the Uptime report puts it “data suggests the third-party data center service providers are growing at the expense of in-house IT operations.”

Some of the reason for the shift is that wholesale data center facility providers are more in tune with the data center world. As Mr. Marko puts it: “The fact that third-party providers, being in the actual business of operating facilities and selling data center services, do a much better job of measuring, documenting and articulating their value through cost and performance metrics.”

Even more important is that through third-party providers, strategic management information is more regularly shared with and acted on by C-Level personnel. The report found that more than 70% of data center operators report cost and performance information to C-Level buyers, versus just 42% of internal data center operators. This is even more evidence that wholesale data centers are not just a new approach to enterprise data centers, but perhaps provide additional value to organizations that have wholesale data centers as part of their cloud strategy.

When you have a minute, take a look at the article and visit the Uptime summary where you can download a full copy of the survey results…I think you will find them interesting.

1 thought on “Data Centers – The Big Get Bigger”

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