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The decision to co-locate all or part of the data center facility can be a risky one. Because the decision to build vs. buy is essentially one of cost, IT decision makers must put in the time and effort in requirements gathering, determining the...

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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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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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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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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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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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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...

Organizations planning to build or refresh the data center should consider the build versus buy decision in the planning phase. This decision requires careful examination and evaluation of options involving asset inventories, facility...

Tool

The build vs. buy decision is never an easy one. Info-Tech's TCO analysis tool simplifies the process by doing the cost calculations automatically and producing a graph for easy comparison.

Tool

The build versus buy question can be an agonizing decision for small enterprises. Info-Tech's TCO comparison tool takes the pain out of this process by automating the cost calculations and chart creation.