Colocation and the Cloud: the future is here
Cloud and colocation sound like just more buzzwords in a seemingly never ending chain of new and complex technologies that are begging for attention.
Unfortunately, the end result is that some enterprise owners and their IT teams are putting their hands in the air and saying ‘enough’ - and instead of looking to take on-board new and better solutions and technologies offered by colocation and cloud computing they are opting for the status quo. Similarly, managed services and solution providers and resellers are also asking what they should and shouldn’t include in their packages to clients.
So why should you consider adopting both cloud and colocation? Well, firstly, it can be the ideal ICT combination for you, your customers and your business. Secondly, expert opinion supports these forms of outsourcing as a valid and profitable area of investment. To see why let’s take a closer look at the benefits of these technologies.
There are many misconceptions about cloud and colocation services. This is not surprising given cloud computing’s relative infancy, so let’s start with the basics.
Research and consulting firm, Deloitte, has produced a report titled Smarter Data Centre Outsourcing - Considerations for CFOs. It states: “Organisations now face combined challenges of dealing with fluctuating demand combined with an expectation that the organisation’s IT department can provide these services in a rapid and cost-effective manner.”
Increasing investment in cloud services has led to resellers and end users alike taking advantage of a vast array of offerings, this explosion of choice has led to no small amount of confusion regarding these services actual ‘cloud’ nature.
The United States Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology defines cloud as:
... a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g. networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.
Cloud computing can be as simple as having data stored off-site and accessible over the internet.