DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGY challenges and risks that require experienced professionals and robust management and monitoring tools to navigate .
• Performance issues : The distance between environments can introduce latency that slows down data processing and application responsiveness . Plus , cloud services will require a constant Internet connection .
• Unexpected costs : Organisations with limited budgets and resources may not be prepared for unanticipated issues that can add up quickly .
A hybrid data centre may be the right choice for :
• Enterprises with diverse IT needs that have already invested in on-premise data centres and want to gradually migrate some workloads to the cloud .
• Organisations with compliance requirements such as governmental , financial , healthcare and legal entities that must keep sensitive data on-premise or in a colocation facility .
• Businesses seeking cost optimisation that can leverage different hosting options based on the characteristics of their workloads .
• Companies prioritising Business Continuity that use the cloud for data replication and backup .
How to choose the right data centre for your organisation
You must carefully consider all viable options and determine the best fit for your organisation . While the selection criteria may look different for every organisation , your process should include these steps : 1 . Assess your business needs : Consider your organisation ’ s size , growth projections , budget , technical requirements and compliance obligations , and understand your current infrastructure ’ s limitations to lay the foundation for your decisionmaking process .
2 . Define your goals : Know your key objectives ( i . e . reduce costs , increase scalability , improve performance ,
enhance security , streamline operations ) to guide you toward a solution that most aligns with your goals .
3 . Evaluate your requirements : Define your technical requirements ( i . e . processing power , storage capacity , network connectivity , software compatibility , data transfer speeds , latency , redundancy , Disaster Recovery options ) and security requirements ( i . e . physical security , data encryption , access controls ) now and in the foreseeable future .
4 . Evaluate costs : Compare the upfront costs , ongoing costs and potential hidden costs of each option .
5 . Consider organisational readiness . Determine your organisation ’ s ability to adopt and manage each option in terms of the available internal resources and expertise as well as the need for training , additional staffing and on-going maintenance responsibilities .
6 . Evaluate SLAs and reputation : If you opt for a colocation or cloud provider , carefully review the SLAs from each prospective vendor . Assess their uptime guarantees , support response times and penalties for non-compliance . Also consider their reliability and track record by checking customer reviews and speaking with references .
Final words
Selecting the right infrastructure option
is crucial for your organisation to thrive . On-premise data centres offer complete control and customisation but require significant upfront costs and maintenance . Colocation data centres provide cost savings , flexibility and reliability , but come with limited visibility and migration challenges . Cloud data centres offer unmatched scalability , although dependence on Internet connectivity and limited control are factors to consider . Hybrid data centres combine the flexibility , control and redundancy of multiple options , but complexity challenges may arise .
What all deployment options have in common is the need to monitor and manage the infrastructure . A modern DCIM tool is needed to proactively resolve issues that may impact downtime , improve capacity planning to maximise the utilisation of existing resources and intelligently reduce energy consumption and automate manual tasks to boost productivity .
By understanding the strengths and limitations of each option and leveraging modern data centre management tools , you can confidently navigate the ever-changing landscape of digital infrastructure and position your organisation for success now and in the future . •
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