Industry research shows that nearly 1 in 4 data centers in North America are outsourced —managed and maintained at offsite colocation facilities. But the increasing popularity of these colocation data center facilities comes at a cost to both customers and the IT professionals operating the data centers. That cost is the inability to sufficiently track and manage IT assets due to the lack of strong data center asset management processes and technologies. Asset Vue has identified significant reasons for data center colocation facilities to adopt data center asset management (DCAM) solutions. The trends the company has identified also indicate a rapidly closing window for data center colocation facilities to gain a competitive advantage by implementing DCAM.
“As the colocation industry grows and matures, clients expectations are growing too,” said John Consoli, executive vice president for Asset Vue. “Our colocation partners see the value in providing a differentiated service based on the value they provide their IT customers – and that increasingly includes a DCAM solution like Asset Vue.”
Asset Vue customer Steel ORCA describes itself as a full service Digital Utility Center (DUC) rather than a traditional colocation facility due in part to the types of services and solutions it is able to offer its IT clients.
“Steel ORCA sees Asset Vue as a significant differentiator in our industry that our customers recognize,” said Steel ORCA CEO, David P. Crocker. “We are filling a huge void in the markets we serve with strategically located options for a co-location center with multiple fiber carriers, unparalleled security, and significant power capacity.”
Top Three Drivers for DCAM in the Data Center Colocation Facility
- IT customer expectations. IT customers increasingly expect that the data center colocation facilities they select will be able to account for their off-premises data center assets using the latest technology.
- Early adopter differentiation. Data center colocation facilities that quickly adopt new DCAM solutions will be able to differentiate themselves and the services they offer IT customers.
- Potential new revenue stream. At the outset, IT customers may be willing to pay a premium for the addition of DCAM services provided by the data center colocation facilities they employ.
Consoli warns that these individual drivers or trends are likely to collide and create a new DCAM imperative. “Eventually, IT customer expectations will be that any data center colocation facility they choose must have a DCAM solution in place and they will not expect to be charged extra for it,” said Consoli.
