The top complaints users have with their colocation providers

There are four common complaints that endusers had when working with their colocation, cloud, or hosting provider.

Price. Things should always be cheaper. Best practice is to incorporate a usage-based model tied to paying only for what you use. The downside is you might have less predictability, but the upside is the price will better represent consumption.

Location. Some customers loved the provider location while others hated the exact same site. The client should do much of the work needed to solve this before selecting a provider. Get internal perspective from all roles in the matter, especially those who will be doing the majority of the on-site support.

Access and control. Endusers need to remember this is outsourcing. They are not going to have the same level of access as you did when you owned everything. Internal behaviors and culture will need to be adjusted.

Capacity. The top reason to employ a colocation provider was to solve the enduser’s capacity problem. But users now complain that their provider has a “lack of growth capacity (both floor space and electrical capacity).” Search for a colo with modularity or infrastructure upgrade plans in place. If you are working with a colo now, ask about capacity, especially before you need it.

The sooner you have all of these conversations, the better the relationship will be between the customer and provider.

- Dan Draper, director, Data Center Programs, Vertiv