Companies are increasingly relying on IT outsourcing
No industry in the modern economy is under as much innovation pressure as information technology. Whether it’s customer service, external and internal communication processes, management of production processes, or the supply chain: all these business areas have a high demand for digital solutions to automate, monitor, and organize business processes. Consequently, there is a plethora of data to be processed, which causes high costs and significant personnel and organizational effort.
“As the digitization of business processes will continue to increase, the question should be allowed whether internal data management in an own data center is still sensible at all,” states Jerome Evans, founder and managing director of firstcolo. As a solution approach, IT outsourcing to external data centers and Private Cloud environments presents itself. They support companies in all questions of data storage and provision while reducing costs. On the other hand, they securely store sensitive company data at geographically separated server locations.
Is it worth moving from your own to an external data center?
When considering outsourcing their IT structures, decision-makers must consider several aspects. Since entrepreneurs primarily focus on the monetary aspects of such a restructuring, the focus initially falls inevitably on the cost aspect. “From an economic perspective, a switch away from an own data center – the in-house data center – to an external colocation provider, the operator of a specialized data center, makes absolute sense. They offer great flexibility, have sufficient connectivity capacities (i.e., the total bandwidth of Internet Service Providers like Deutsche Telekom), and operate sustainably and energy-efficiently,” explains Evans.
Thus, tenants of a data center only pay for the resources they actually use. One-time costs for the acquisition and constant renewal of server systems are also eliminated, as server and network hardware are provided by modern data center providers in the form of rental servers on a monthly basis. “By renting server capacities, high one-time investment costs on the user side, so-called CapEx, are eliminated. Additionally, the provider guarantees a free exchange of replacement components for the server systems. When moving to a colocation provider, customers also benefit from the most advanced technologies in the managed service and managed security area, which are implemented by dedicated IT experts at a fixed rental price,” Evans continues.
Overview: The Advantages of IT Outsourcing
- No one-time costs for the acquisition and renewal of server systems (no CapEx);
- Costs only arise for resources actually used;
- Server and network hardware is rented monthly;
- Free exchange of replacement components for server systems by the provider;
- Use of the latest technologies for IT operations and security services;
- Implementation of services at fixed rental prices by dedicated IT experts;
- High flexibility and sufficient connectivity capacities to Internet Service Providers (ISP);
- Sustainable and energy-efficient operation.
Securely Stored in the Private Cloud
Especially when it comes to the secure storage and transmission of data, a proprietary infrastructure offers the greatest advantages. “Particularly the use of a Private Cloud is one of the strong alternatives in data outsourcing,” explains Evans. “Here, a single user receives all available computing resources. This offers the user much more control over the infrastructure and the ability to customize it individually. Certain security requirements and regulatory obligations are thus easily met.”
Public Cloud Offers Little Flexibility
A public cloud, on the other hand, is much more rigid, as the infrastructure is always available to multiple users. This results in significantly less individuality. And often the data location cannot be determined, which makes it difficult to comply with GDPR standards, for example. In addition to security, performance and cost structure are also among the decisive factors for using a private cloud. Especially for data-driven workloads such as machine learning or virtual desktop infrastructures, minimal latency and high performance are basic requirements.
“These requirements can be much better mapped with traditional deployment models. For example, with ‘on-premise’, but also in private clouds, as the infrastructure can be designed to a greater extent. For the future, these are therefore almost alternative-less models,” Evans explains. Due to the proprietary deployment method of the private cloud, the hardware components used are also precisely tailored to the user. This means that no unnecessary additional costs are incurred. Especially with long-term operated infrastructure, this results in a significantly better overall cost structure than many alternatives.
Overview: The advantages of the private cloud
- More control and freedom of design over the infrastructure;
- Better compliance with security and data protection standards (e.g., GDPR);
- All available computing resources are reserved for one user;
- Better adaptation to specific requirements and workloads;
- Low latency and high performance;
- Optimal adaptation of hardware components to the user;
- No unnecessary additional costs;
- Better overall cost structure for long-term operation.
