Data centres are expensive, resource intensive and considered by some as non-profitable. In an era of increasing cloud migration, choosing the right strategy for IT infrastructure sourcing is a crucial topic to be tackled. To address this, Marcin Geroch, ICT Pre-sales Director, Comarch gives insights on profiting from a data centre.
Geroch said that in most cases it is not profitable from the standpoint of the companies for which a data centre is not their primary business.
“If we compare a local data centre to the cloud services available on the market, it may bring one to the conclusion that DC business is not as profitable as it was before. There is some sort of truth here, however for different reasons many customers still chose to host their systems at local data centres rather than in the cloud. This is due to various reasons like security, difficulty in migrating certain technologies to cloud etc.” said Geroch.
He further elaborated on another scenario which is the provision of bespoke services that make dedicated managed hosting services provided by external suppliers more alluring and affordable than public clouds. Although the cloud concept is great, it doesn’t always fit the provided business case. On the other hand, a hybrid approach is feasible in which a small local data centre becomes a component of a bigger environment by either deploying private cloud infrastructure there or by connecting it to an external service.
Reasons to have a data centre
Every company and government agency needs a relevant facility to host their own IT infrastructure. Rapidly increasing amounts of data must be stored in a way that guarantees its confidentiality but also quick and reliable accessibility. With cloud storage gaining momentum, the idea of offshore storage is gaining popularity. Many businesses are increasingly transferring their business-related apps to external data centres and cloud services. As the demand for information exchange has risen, data centres’ significance in the modern world has multiplied tenfold. However, there are still many independent factors that force companies to look for dedicated solutions. In such cases, they can choose to rent a server space from “colos,” or colocation centres and place their systems there or cooperate with external DC providers who deliver managed services tailored to their business needs. Also, if they have enough resources and skills, organisations may decide to create and operate their server rooms internally.
There are multiple reasons to maintain and own a data centre or buy a managed service. However, the following are the key points to consider:
- Security policy of the company that does not allow for transferring data outside the premises
- Legal requirements to process data in a given area
- Technological obstacles as not all systems are possible to migrate to the cloud
- Mission-critical systems that need to run in close proximity, i.e. ERP systems or systems that control the production lines
“For the sectors where it is easy to predict business trends and, as a result, the future IT requirements, investing in a data centre or purchasing the dedicated service may be more efficient in regards to data processing aspects. “A dedicated service” is mostly understood as, a service of an external, non-cloud DC provider. Apart from the costs, there are also other benefits like data sovereignty, no vendor lock-in, better control on where data are stored, legal compliance etc.,” mentioned Geroch.
Sustainable data centres
Data centres are energy-intensive buildings. The IT infrastructure needs a huge amount of power and a significant per cent of the energy is consumed for cooling systems that keep IT infrastructure operating at constant temperature conditions. Furthermore, data centres contribute up to five per cent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. As more and more companies are aiming for ESG goals, organisations are looking for data centre strategies that keep sustainability in their core practice while meeting all business requirements.
Comarch has a key focus on sustainability in its data centres. Geroch elaborates, “Sustainability has a great influence on data centre business in recent years. As a DC owner we are aware of the impact data centres have on the environment. It is a huge responsibility on service providers to design and operate their facilities in a way that let us decrease energy consumption by optimisation of the IT resources usage. This could not be possible without implementing the newest, energy-saving technologies, virtualisation of the IT environments and using alternative sources of energy. Obligation to fulfil those requirements and increasing energy prices will force companies to change their approach to IT towards broader outsourcing to external providers, and limiting power consumption at their premises.”
