It’s just not faster or easier.
A forthcoming PTS White Paper will present a total cost of ownership (TCO) analysis that definitively proves it costs less to design, build, and operate a six (6) cabinet, 25kW load, tenant-space computer room than it is to operate the same IT infrastructure a co-location data center – it’s just not faster or easier to do so.
Based on our model, we found that in the short-term, it costs less to operate in a colocation approach, but in the long-run it costs approximately 40% less to own a premise-built data center/computer room. The Break-Even Point occurs at year seven (7). Many clients have paid PTS to perform similar analyses for them for both big and small sites. Interestingly, the results are always consistent with our hypothesis about premise-built being less expensive. The only noteworthy difference is that PTS has seen the Break-Even Point occur in as little as five (5) years, or many as twelve (12) years, especially when comparing a build using a very robust, Tier IV-like, infrastructure.
Like the old adage says, “what was once old becomes new again”, surely the data center industry will continue to transform. In most likelihood, most companies will settle into a hybrid data center strategy existence. They will utilize premise-built for its most critical applications and data, especially those with intense governance constraints, as well as for all its edge needs. They will leverage colocation where appropriate due to lack of adequate facilities and/or connectivity requirements, for less critical application and data, and for disaster recover. Finally, they will use public cloud where appropriate for the easiest stuff that is not time sensitive, critical, or requires governance.