As a business grows, it becomes necessary for leadership to expand IT infrastructure to accommodate the increased demand on internal IT resources. Some opt to expand upon their existing on-premise infrastructure, but for the majority of companies, this option doesn’t make economic sense. Fortunately, there are some options available for those businesses that need additional infrastructure but want to avoid the expense that comes along with an in-house solution.

Colocation in Data Centers 

Colocation allows users to buy and manage their hardware while housing it in a data center. Multiple businesses can rent space in the data center, allowing “tenants” to share the costs of power, cooling, communication, and floor space. With colocation, users have complete control and ownership over their hardware and the ability to manage and maintain the servers.

Colocation is a good option for organizations that need:

• Control over hardware and equipment
• Adherence to strict data protection and compliance requirements (HIPAA and PCI)
• A failover site for disaster recovery

Cloud Services

Similar to colocation, cloud services provide a shared facility for users to leverage a third-party data center. However, with cloud services, users aren’t required to purchase and maintain their equipment. Instead, the cloud service provider (CSP) not only supplies and manages the servers, storage, and network, but they also supply day-to-day administration, maintenance, and issue resolution.

Cloud Services is a good option for organizations that need:

• Elimination of capital expense (CapEx) and reduction of operational expense (OpEx)
• The ability to outsource management of IT infrastructure, reducing IT costs
• The ability to scale with a “pay-as-you-go” model, only paying for the resources used

Hybrid Model

In some cases, businesses might look for a hybrid model that gives them the best of both worlds. With a hybrid solution, providers offer a customized solution that could include dedicated servers, public and private clouds, colocation, and managed services. In doing so, the client can enjoy the flexibility needed for their specific infrastructure requirements while reaping the benefits that both colocation and cloud solutions have to offer. This option is becoming increasingly popular with 50% of global enterprises expected to deploy hybrid environments by 2018, according to Gartner.

What’s Next?

With so many options available, many IT leaders struggle to make sense of it all. LanYap Networks can help you identify your specific IT infrastructure needs and determine which solution is best for your current and long-term situation. Give us a call today and let’s chat!