Enterprise IT strategies have undergone a profound shift in recent years, with an increasing number of businesses transitioning away from legacy on-premises infrastructure towards colocation data centers. This transition is spurred by various factors, including the rapidly evolving technological landscape, escalating cybersecurity threats, increasing regulatory complexity, and the constant pressure to optimize operational efficiency. Many enterprises find that their existing on-premises data centers are ill-equipped to navigate these challenges effectively. The escalating cost and resource demands of maintaining and upgrading these facilities further compound the issue, leading many enterprises to seek more sustainable, future-proof solutions. This confluence of factors is accelerating the transition towards colocation data centers as the preferred IT infrastructure solution for businesses of all sizes and across diverse industries.

10 Ways Enterprises Benefit from Colocation

1. Cost Savings

Cost savings stand as a leading advantage for enterprises opting for colocation data centers. By moving their IT infrastructure to a colocation facility, businesses can avoid the substantial capital expenditure associated with building, securing, and maintaining their own data center. The financial model shifts from a CapEx-heavy approach to a more predictable, scalable OpEx model, aligning IT expenses with actual usage. Beyond infrastructure costs, colocation also saves on operational expenses. These savings come from efficiencies in power and cooling (achieved through the scale and expertise of colocation providers) and from reduced staffing costs, as routine maintenance and management are handled by the provider's team. Furthermore, given the enhanced reliability and efficiency of colocation data centers, enterprises can also see significant savings in potential disaster recovery costs. By choosing colocation, enterprises stand to reap substantial financial benefits, freeing up resources for strategic investments.

2. Increased Reliability

Reliability is critically important for enterprises, and colocation data centers are more than capable of meeting the challenge. These facilities offer an array of redundancies to ensure uninterrupted service, most notably in power and cooling systems, which significantly reduces the risk of outages that could disrupt business operations. Coupled with stringent uptime Service Level Agreements (SLAs), colocation providers offer assurances of high availability and consistency that on-premises data centers and most public cloud providers struggle to match. Further bolstering reliability, colocation facilities provide around-the-clock monitoring, using advanced systems to detect and respond to any potential issues swiftly. This 24x7x365 oversight, coupled with robust redundancies and uptime commitments, make colocation an attractive option for enterprises seeking to maximize reliability and minimize potential downtime.

3. Improved Security

As digital threats continue to evolve, colocation data centers play a critical role in bolstering enterprise security. These facilities go above and beyond in offering comprehensive protections, intertwining physical security measures with advanced cybersecurity protocols. Physically, colocation centers often feature a multitude of safeguards, including surveillance systems, biometric access controls, and on-site security personnel, providing a robust defense against intrusion and tampering. In the virtual realm, stringent zero-trust cybersecurity protocols are deployed to deter, detect, and mitigate digital threats. This includes firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and secure access controls that guard against unauthorized digital access. By offering this multi-layered security approach, colocation data centers equip enterprises with the fortitude to confront and overcome the complex security challenges in today's digital landscape.

4. Enhanced Scalability

In today's fast-paced and ever-evolving business environment, scalability is essential for any technology solution. Unlike on-premises data centers, which can be constrained by physical space and resource limitations, colocation facilities provide the capacity to expand or contract based on the changing needs of the business. This allows enterprises to scale their IT infrastructure quickly and efficiently, without incurring the substantial costs and time delays associated with vertical, in-house expansion. Moreover, many colocation providers offer seamless access to public and private cloud services, further enhancing scalability. This access allows enterprises to readily adjust their resource utilization in line with demand, ensuring they have the agility to navigate fluctuations and capitalize on opportunities. Thanks to these substantial scalability advantages, colocation data centers serve as a dynamic foundation for enterprises' growth and transformation strategies.

5. Improved Performance

Colocation data centers offer the critical advantage of optimized performance thanks to their use of up-to-date equipment and strategic proximity to network providers. These facilities are often equipped with the latest in server, storage, and network technology, ensuring that enterprises can leverage high-performance IT infrastructure without the necessity of continual equipment upgrades in-house. This state-of-the-art equipment, combined with regular maintenance and updates, ensures optimal performance and efficiency. In addition, the physical location of these facilities plays a crucial role in enhancing performance. Colocation data centers are typically positioned close to major network providers or end users, resulting in lower latency and faster data transmission. This proximity ensures high-speed, reliable connectivity, which enables enterprises to deliver superior service to their customers and stakeholders. 

6. Reduced Risk

Risk reduction is another pivotal advantage of colocation data centers, providing enterprises with a fortified line of defense against data loss, downtime, and disruptions to business continuity. Colocation facilities often come equipped with comprehensive data backup and recovery solutions, which mitigates the risk of data loss and ensures rapid restoration of services in the event of an incident. Their robust power and cooling redundancies, alongside stringent uptime commitments, also guard against downtime and ensure the consistent availability of business-critical systems. Colocation providers typically offer well-developed disaster recovery strategies designed to maintain operational continuity even in the face of catastrophic events. These strategies, often bolstered by geographically dispersed data center locations, provide assurance of business continuity. By leveraging the risk mitigation strategies inherent in colocation, enterprises can focus on their core competencies, secure in the knowledge that their data and systems are well protected.

7. Increased Flexibility

Flexibility stands as a cornerstone benefit offered by colocation data centers, providing a stark contrast to the rigidity often associated with traditional on-premises solutions. Colocation facilities enable hybrid IT configurations, seamlessly integrating colocated and cloud environments to best fit the unique needs and goals of each enterprise. This approach provides the flexibility to choose where and how applications and data are hosted, enabling a strategic allocation of resources based on performance, security, and cost requirements. Additionally, the financial structure of colocation services, transitioning from CapEx to OpEx, provides financial flexibility. Unlike the heavy upfront costs associated with building and maintaining a private data center, colocation allows for predictable, recurring expenses that can be adjusted as needs evolve. This shift in spending model enables enterprises to adapt quickly to changing circumstances, aligning their IT infrastructure costs with their actual requirements. Colocation data centers serve as a springboard for enterprise agility, fostering the capability to promptly respond to and capitalize on shifts in the business landscape.

8. Improved Compliance

Colocation data centers can greatly improve enterprise compliance posture thanks to robust systems and processes designed to meet stringent regulatory requirements. Colocation providers regularly undergo thorough audits to validate their compliance with a myriad of standards (such as SOC 2, HIPAA, and PCI DSS). These audits provide enterprises with the assurance that their data is handled in accordance with the highest data security standards. Moreover, colocation data centers implement rigorous security measures and processes that are vital to maintaining continuous compliance. These include access controls, encryption protocols, incident response mechanisms, and regular vulnerability assessments. By choosing colocation, enterprises can take advantage of these already established frameworks, thus alleviating the burden and complexity of achieving and maintaining compliance in-house. Colocation data centers play an instrumental role in reinforcing an enterprise's compliance posture, offering both peace of mind and protection in the face of an increasingly complex regulatory landscape.

9. Reduced IT Staff

Colocation data centers offer the opportunity for enterprises to streamline their IT staff thanks to the comprehensive support these facilities provide. Most providers typically offer a plethora of managed services, spanning from basic hardware and network maintenance to complex tasks such as disaster recovery planning and execution. By offloading these responsibilities, enterprises can refocus their internal IT resources on strategic, value-adding activities rather than routine maintenance and troubleshooting. Moreover, colocation facilities often provide around-the-clock remote hands support with onsite technicians that can promptly respond to hardware issues or emergency requests, which eliminates the need for an enterprise to maintain its own on-call team. By leveraging the breadth of services offered by colocation data centers, enterprises can achieve a leaner, more strategic IT staffing model, ultimately boosting efficiency and agility.

10. Increased Focus on Business Goals

By offloading the complexities of maintaining and securing data center facilities to colocation providers, enterprises can free up valuable IT resources and redirect their attention towards strategic initiatives. This shift can dramatically accelerate digital transformation efforts, as IT teams are unburdened from routine tasks and can instead concentrate on driving innovation, improving customer experiences, and developing new business models. Additionally, the financial savings of colocation can free additional capital for investment in innovative technology or business expansion. By enabling a sharper focus on business priorities and reducing the burden of IT infrastructure management, colocation data centers serve as powerful catalysts for enterprise innovation and digital transformation.

Enhance Your Enterprise Data Strategy with Evoque Colocation Services

Evoque’s data center solutions deliver a premium, value-focused colocation ecosystem tailored to address the dynamic needs of today's businesses. Through our network of state-of-the-art data centers, we offer seamless, multi-carrier connectivity underpinned by robust infrastructure and an industry-leading uptime SLA that ensures uninterrupted access to your mission-critical workloads and data. With an extensive portfolio of strategically distributed data centers, Evoque is primed to address evolving edge computing demands, enhance application performance, and bolster disaster recovery strategies. 

To learn how Evoque can accelerate your digital transformation journey, talk to one of our colocation specialists today.