More and more companies opt to migrate to a data center being forced by their large processing, storage and resilience requirements, which are difficult to cover with their own IT infrastructure.
Globally, as well as in Romania, the last two years have proved that performant and flexible IT infrastructure is essential to support economic activity in any field. But digitalization projects require more and more processing power, connectivity and storage capacity. Correlated with the need for high availability to ensure operational continuity, these requirements are easier to fulfil by migrating the IT equipment from the premises to a modern data center.
In the current economic environment, operating an on-premises IT infrastructure is:
- Expensive – A superior performance requires more complex and, implicitly, more expensive equipment. Not only servers, storage and network, but also “auxiliary” equipment, such as cooling or supply equipment. On the other hand, the expansion of IT infrastructure also brings with it higher energy consumption. And, if the kilowatt price continues to increase, the companies either pay higher invoices or invest in energy efficiency. Another important limitation is also the physical space, and for the organisations who operate Data Rooms, which are limited in terms of expansion possibilities, moving to high-density is expensive (because it also entails upgrading supply and cooling systems) and also the organization of additional areas.
- Complicated – The operation and maintenance of complex IT equipment require qualified personnel. And, labour deficit is very high in this niche, and Romania is no exception. Last year, 53% of the companies who were operating data centers were having difficulties in finding qualified candidates, and 42% – were in keeping those that they had (1). The lack of personnel and salary costs are increasing, resulting in additional expenses.
- Risky – Higher dependency on IT infrastructure forces organizations to substantially invest also to increase availability. In the last three years, 80% of the companies that own Data Rooms on-premises were facing unplanned downtimes. For example, in 43% of the cases (2) the issue was represented by the interruption of the electricity supply. Preventing such situations is not at all cheap – the cost of a redundant supply connection is prohibitive for most companies. On the other hand, investments in electro-backup solutions – UPSs and Diesel generators – are not small.
Under these conditions, it is obvious why more and more companies choose the option of migrating to a data center, which provides the colocation of IT equipment. It is also demonstrated by the evolution of the colocation services market, which grows annually by more than 15%. (3)
5 reasons that support the decision to migrate to a data center
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Redundancy and continuity
In the IT infrastructure migration to data center projects, colocation services include contractual warranties (by SLAs) for the levels of availability and quality ensured. For example, if an energy source “shuts off”, there are backup solutions that automatically activate in order to maintain the operation of the website, the internal network, apps or services on the colocated servers. Data centers have several redundant electro-backup systems – UPSs and generators – and even separate supply networks, capable to face long-term blackouts.
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Scalability
Another important benefit for companies when they make the decision to migrate to a data center is scalability, respectively the ease with which they can increase or flexibly diminish the space necessary for the equipment and necessary facilities hosted (supply, connectivity, cooling, protection against fires, etc.). The immediate advantage is that all this can be added in line with the evolution of business needs, without huge investments, with a slow amortization rate.
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Security and compliance
Data security, risk decreasing and compliance are some requirements which are strictly regulated and European level, but also at local level. Data centers use advanced security protocols and technologies which few companies can implement by themselves. The systems used cover physical security (access control systems, biometrical scanners, etc.), but also information security (protection against DDoS attacks, high capacity firewalls, etc.). At the same time, in most of the cases, the security architecture is certified and audited constantly to validate the compliance with the standards in force (ISO 27001, NIS, PCI DSS, etc.).
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Support and maintenance 24/7/365
One of the main reasons to migrate to a data center is the advantage of benefitting from 24/7 on-site support. Data centers have teams of qualified and certified personnel, ready to take action at any moment with standardized procedures and good practices. This is an important argument because the issues related to data, network, cooling, security, etc. do not occur only during work hours, and the resources available internally are limited.
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Cost savings
Each of the elements listed above generate cost discounts, data centers ensuring:
– infrastructure and protocols for redundancy and continuity of services
– capacity to rapidly expand when necessary
– physical and information security
– inspections and processes for the observance of numerous standards of data compliance
– 24/7 support.
Additionally, the personnel of a data center permanently monitors the electricity supply and server level connectivity for each client and proactively notifies the situations where consumptions exceed the agreed levels. Thus, you benefit from cost predictability, an important gain in the current context.
Additional gains
The list of benefits obtained by migrating IT infrastructure to a data center is more comprehensive. For example, various data centers offer their clients supplementary Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity services, in dedicated sites. On the other hand, the accreditations, certifications and annual audits which data centers go through represent and additional quality and availability guarantee.
Last but not least, professional Data Centers adopt, on a large scale, solutions with increased energetic efficiency and sustainable supply and cooling technologies. These are elements that start to weigh more and more in choosing a colocation service.
The decision to migrate to a data center is an important step and must be carefully reviewed. M24 specialists can help you make the right decision according to your organization’s requirements and budget and to take the first steps to migrating to a data center.
For additional information and commercial offers, please contact us.
(1) 2022 Management and Operations Survey
