August 10, 2007
An Outsourced Data Center
by Elizabeth Millard - Taken from Processor.com
A Good Idea For Your SME?
With limited time and resources, many IT departments at small to midsized enterprises are turning to third-party providers for network management services or even to run their entire data centers. Weather, network upgrades, security, and other factors have also fueled the rise in outsourcing, as being freed of complex management tasks, application updates, and data backup can give IT more efficiency without busting their budgets.
Much like hiring consultants, outsourcing is not a one-size-fits-all proposition; some companies may find that they prefer to keep their data and network inside the company walls. But for many, outsourcing at least part of the management responsibilities may be a better way to utilize staff hours, keep users happy, and alleviate IT manager stress.
Future Think
According to AFCOM (Association for Data Center Managers), big changes are ahead in the industry, and data center managers who aren’t outsourcing now may ponder the strategy for the future as shifts occur. In a recent survey, the association predicted that by 2015, the talent pool of qualified senior-level technical and management data center professionals will shrink by 45%.
It also said that within the next few years, more than half of all data centers will have to relocate to new facilities or outsource some applications. For those remaining at companies, power failures and limits on power availability will halt data center operations at more than 90% of the data centers, and one out of every four will experience a business disruption serious enough to affect the entire company’s ability to continue business.
If these AFCOM predictions are true, it means that the smaller talent pool, increased power demands, and growing rate of disruption will all become factors for considering outsourcing, especially as grid computing and virtual processing drive the need for more innovative technology.
Outsourcing Options
When it comes to what can be outsourced, the range of offerings is both broad and deep. A data center can shuffle off its entire network management and application hosting needs to an outsource services provider or simply enlist help for large tasks such as data backup and recovery or upgrade services.
“There are as many types of data center business models as there are data centers,” says Carl Landis, director of data center operations for DataPreserve. “They range between some combination of three models, however.” The first is a basic center that rents space, air conditioning, power, and bandwidth in a secure environment. Second are these services in conjunction with equipment, and third is all of these with support services thrown in.
Some providers have “cabinet colocation” that enterprises in the area use because they need more space for equipment but don’t have the resources to build a secure, temperature-controlled building. At Dallas-based Dataside, for example, the firm has lockable cabinets inside its data center that provide fully redundant electrical power, raised flooring, fire suppression, controlled temperature and humidity, and onsite staff.
Others, such as DYONYX, have application hosting and security management. The latter could be particularly valuable for SMEs that don’t have time to do the types of vulnerability assessments that are crucial for network management. Application hosting, too, can alleviate time crunches by taking care of user help desk calls, upgrades, customized development requests, and guaranteed uptime.
Data collection and disaster recovery is another popular option, and firms such as DataPreserve specialize in creating personally tailored strategies for SME clients that let them back up data remotely and access it when needed.
“Outsourced data centers offer many advantages over traditional data centers,” says Fred Mapp, CIO at i/o Data Centers, “such as having professionals manage the day-to-day power, bandwidth, and other basic requirements.”
Factors To Consider
In pondering an outsourcing plan, Mapp suggests that SMEs first look at their data center strategy because moving ahead with outsourced services requires not just an honest assessment of current operations but also future goals. According to Mapp, here are some questions you should ask before making the call to an outsourcing service:
- Is the data center a commodity?
- Should it be viewed as a utility and paid for based on the amount used, like electricity or water is?
- What are the requirements of managing the data center?
- What are your capabilities to design, build, and operate a data center if a new data center has to be built?
- Do you have the know-how within your staff?
- How will you scale up to accommodate growth?
- For disaster recovery and business continuity, can you identify a single point of failure?
- Do you have a backup plan and understand the costs of disruption?
Sometimes SMEs have enough expertise in-house to handle data center management, and IT managers might prefer to do their own application hosting, troubleshooting, and data backup alone, in order to have more control over what’s happening in terms of network management.
“It could be argued that data centers are more expensive than the closets or back rooms that many companies use to operate their critical technology equipment,” says Michael Goodman, DataPreserve major account manager. “Remember, though, that these locations typically offer little physical security and no redundancy of power, cooling, or bandwidth.”
Using outsourcing even on a short-term basis can be helpful for utilizing resources more effectively, those in the industry believe. Mapp says, “I truly believe that companies will be successful when they begin to develop a strategy that incorporates using experts to manage their data centers and provide flexibility to address change.”