There is no doubt that COVID-19 has impacted many areas of our lives, especially how, and perhaps more importantly, where we work. 

Staff who were previously working from an office are now working remotely from home, and perhaps connecting into the on-premises company servers over their home internet connection. 

This change has had many business owners consider if they need such a big office, or if they need an office at all… But what about the phone system, file server, and application servers?

If only there a lower-cost solution with the security, redundancy, connectivity, and compliance that the business requires… Well, there is!

‘Colocation‘ is an IT industry term that refers to locating your IT infrastructure at a data-centre, and provides one of the tidiest solutions to this very dilemma. Using a data-centre to host your equipment untethers your IT infrastructure from the office, and provides many other benefits that can be a real ‘Aha’ moment for IT managers. 

Advantages of Colocation over On-Premises hosting. 

There are serveral advantages that colocating IT equipment in a data-centre has over keeping them in an office.

1. Security
2. Redundancy
3. Connectivity 
4. Compliance
5. Cost

1. Security. 

Data-centres are built with security in mind. OMNIconnect’s data-centre (OCDC) for example has recently been accredited with the prestigious ISO 270001 certification, which is an international standard outlining best practices for information security management systems (ISMS). Data- centres have round the clock security monitoring everything from physical security to network and internet connectivity.  

2. Redundancy.

Unlike most offices, Data-centres have multiple redundant carrier-grade internet connections, not only providing higher speeds, but also redundancy and failover. OCDC also provides protection against ‘Distributed Denial of Service’ (DDoS) attacks’, which seem to be on the rise and can take services offline during an attack. Redundant power (UPS and diesel generators) also protect colocated equipment from utility power outages, providing another level of redundancy not available in most offices.

3. Connectivity. 

Depending on where an office is located, connection options can be limited to a consumer-grade nbn connection (or worse). As mentioned above, data-centres have greater speeds, data-centre to data-centre connectivity, and even direct connectivity to other remote office locations.

4. Compliance. 

In order to win new business and keep existing clients, businesses are expected to be compliant with standards such as ISO. By colocating their IT equipment with suppliers who are already accredited, that can avoid having the costly process of getting certified themselves. ISO 270001 certification for example costs tens of thousands of dollars, so having your equipment hosted with a certified data-centre can make the process of being certified much easier by allowing auditors to review certifications held by the data-centre.

5. Cost. 

COVID-19 has left offices empty throughout the world. Expensive floorspace going to waste. Sometimes, these offices remain leased because this is where the IT infrastructure is hosted… Sometimes in a custom-built computer room or often even under a desk. Either way, consolidating the servers to a data-centre just makes fiscal sense. Servers take up a lot less space than people and don’t complain if they don’t have a city view ;-).

Why not have a free consultation with OMNIconnect today to discuss the benefits of colocating your servers and IT equipment to a data-centre  in more detail.