Understanding business needs is the first step to making the decision between build and buy. Before any organization can/or should make the decision to purchase, it must understand the business requirements at the smallest level.

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Building a Greenfield data center is an expensive and lengthy project that can be hard to plan for. Because of its enormity, it is extremely important to accurately estimate a budget. Estimate capital expenditures and operating expenses over the...

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The Data Integration Build vs. Buy TCO calculator provides enterprises with a framework for comparing the cost of hand-coding to that of buying a new software package.

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A co-location Service Level Agreement (SLA) provides a definition of performance for the negotiated service. SLAs ensure accountability on the part of the service provider and also determine the price of the service. Understand and develop...

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Ongoing management of the Service Level Agreement (SLA) and co-location contract is critical for a successful co-location engagement. Assessments should be conducted at least annually to ensure the co-location vendor is complying with the...

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After defining the organization's requirements for data center co-location service offerings, expectations for the engagement methodology should be defined. Many organizations run into trouble in the co-location agreement when a vendor's...

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Basic services for co-location are a commodity amongst vendor offerings. Understanding the business needs helps to narrow down the list of vendors and aid in the selection process. Choose a set of criteria to base the decision on, before...

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Managed services offerings build on basic co-location with added services provided by the vendor. Regardless of immediate needs, IT should include managed services criteria in the vendor selection process. Choose a set of criteria based on...

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Co-location recovery services deliver high availability using replication and backup technologies to ensure continuity of enterprise operations. Many organizations engage in co-location purely for recovery services; however, recovery services...

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The data center build versus buy decision is essentially a cost decision. Many organizations that gather requirements and forecast data center costs into the future will find that over time, a co-location strategy is the less expensive...

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Establishing the initial plan and design for the new data center can be a challenging task, especially for IT leaders who are inexperienced. Start the project off correctly by planning and monitoring the data center build and understanding what...

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Whether it is an existing building or a new construction site, IT must cover due diligence by completing a site evaluation for each potential location. Use a building site selection and security checklist to ensure nothing is overlooked, and...

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A data center build project charter is essential to the planning phase of the project. It lays out important information such as the project's description, potential risks, and communication plan to keep all stakeholders informed. Complete the...

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One of the most important phases a new data center build is selecting the building site. Whether it is an existing building or a new construction site, IT must exercise due diligence by completing a site evaluation for each potential location....

The physical layout of the server room's building space should be carefully thought out and planned before the refresh or build stage. Apart from the room that houses servers and equipment, there are other support areas important to server room...

When building or refreshing the data center, IT must have a high level understanding of requirements and potential budget. Facility requirements for power, cooling, standby power, fire protection, sizing, and architectural space layout should be...

Planning for the physical layout and design of the data center building space should include more than just the equipment room. For example, areas for loading equipment, storage, and support personnel should be included in building space...

Enterprises entering a mobile application initiative should start by assessing existing applications to determine if buying, building, or porting is the best way to achieve their goals. Info-Tech's assessment framework for application...

Job Description

The Web Developer's role is to build the operations end of the organization's Web sites and keep them running smoothly. This includes designing, building, and implementing new Web pages and sites; integrating sites with back end applications;...

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The role of the User Interface Analyst is to prototype, design, and build graphic user interfaces (GUIs) for software development, Web forms, and other applications. This includes capturing user requirements through collaboration with business...

Job Description

The Network Analyst's role is to design, build, and implement network systems across the enterprise. This includes planning, developing, installing, configuring, maintaining, supporting, and optimizing all local and wide area network...