The practice of outsourcing IT infrastructure management has become more prevalent because it addresses two simple business needs: lower expenses and better allocation of resources. Transferring specific, non-core business tasks to an outsourcing operation – one that focuses and specializes solely on colocation or managed hosting solutions – is an effective means to lower the costs and direct focus and attention back to areas of the business that are more customer and/or revenue focused.
What is Colocation?
A colocation provider is primarily responsible for the physical facilities option for your IT infrastructure management solution. This solution allows your organization to avoid the expense of, or the ongoing issues associated with, constructing, expanding or maintaining the physical structure (and related components) of the data center.
Colocation allows your organization to expand quickly, bypassing the time it takes to design and construct a new data center, while conserving capital.
What is Managed Hosting?
Managed hosting extends the benefits of Colocation by eliminating both the responsibility for maintaining a physical facility as well as the requirement for continuing to own and maintain the IT infrastructure. The acquisition and maintenance of all core computing and network assets (servers, switches, storage and firewalls) become the responsibility of the service provider, and your only requirement is to maintain your business applications.
Comparing Colocation and Managed Hosting
With our managed hosting solutions, the ongoing, routine oversight of your core IT infrastructure is transferred to the service provider which, in turn, minimizes the obligations on your existing IT staff and allows for redeployment of those resources to other areas of your business.
The illustration below shows the difference between the two solutions in terms of retained or transferred responsibilities. Using the concept of an “outsourcing stack” (i.e. a comparison against the list of obligations or “layers” associated with deploying and managing an IT infrastructure). One can see the base overlap as well as the key distinctions between the two options.
Difference between Colocation and Managed Hosting – Retained or Transferred Responsibilities:
Core Questions to Determine the Right Fit for Your Organization
Determining what might be the best IT infrastructure management solution for your organization or project can be a simple process of evaluating preferences, budgets and capabilities of your organization.
For more detail on making the choice between colocation and managed hosting services, click the white paper, “Colocation Versus Managed Hosting: A question and answer guide to determining the best fit for your organization – today and in the future.”
