Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Shared data centres - acce to the widest choice and optimal pricing wiout lock-in

13/07/2015

--

Shared data centres - access to the widest choice and optimal pricing without lock-in --

Mon, 13 Jul 2015 17:25

--

There is no doubt that, in a data-driven world, the data centre is a critical and central component of the technology infrastructure of any organisation. However, when it comes to provisioning and obtaining access to the data centre itself and a variety of attached services, there is a growing trend away from owning and maintaining this infrastructure in-house. Hosted data centres, particularly shared data centres that also offer a carrier-neutral colocation hub, are becoming an increasingly popular option. Shared data centres often bring together various different providers from across the country. This enables organisations that also make use of this data centre to access to their services and provide a range of essential technology solutions and services on a monthly, as needed basis, among other benefits. The decision to outsource and the selection of an appropriate partner is often challenging, and requires organisations to ask themselves a number of questions. Before a service, solution or technology is outsourced, the pros and cons must be carefully weighed and the benefits quantified, so that ultimately the organisation can make the best decision for their business.

Data centres, while they have become essential, also represent a significant capital investment. The infrastructure itself is costly to procure, and also requires specialist operational skills in a variety of areas including physical and network security, security of the electricity supply, heating and cooling and more. In addition, this infrastructure needs to be managed, maintained and serviced, generators for failover power supply must be serviced, maintained and supplied with diesel and many more aspects. The operational logistics around managing a data centre are onerous and expensive, in addition to the large initial capital outlay. As a result, hosted and shared data centres are becoming increasingly sought-after in South Africa.

By providing hosted and shared services, organisations can leverage reduced CAPEX expenditure, as well as greater flexibility and shorter commitment times as all services are pay as you use . In addition, by opting for these services, organisations can reduce the requirement to maintain their own extensive IT and application teams. Aside from a reduction in capital expense as well as on-going skills retention and maintenance, these data centres also offer a number of other benefits to business, providing access to a wide range of services and solutions that may not have been possible to procure in-house. These include rack hosting, server hosting, storage, archiving, disaster recovery (DR), virtualisation and cloud services.

Harnessing the unique benefits of a shared data centre, businesses are also often able to take advantage of greater flexibility to switch service providers. Neutral shared data centres bring together many different suppliers and service providers, including pure connectivity, last mile, content providers and service providers. By locating in the same data centre, businesses have access to all of these different services. South Africa has many market players and a spirit of healthy competition in the cloud space, and prices as a result are constantly decreasing. Shared data centres thus provide businesses with access to the widest choice and the lowest prices without locking them in to the services of a single vendor or provider. As the cloud is a developing IT service, there are many new innovations and services being developed on a regular basis, and businesses have access to this innovation through a neutral shared data centre.

Outsourcing in a shared data centre offers numerous benefits, however, it is not a viable solution for the majority of businesses to simply outsource everything. When it comes to deciding on the level of outsourcing to select, and when to make use of which service, there are many factors to take into account, depending on what technology is core to the business. For example: Where is the breakeven point between owning or outsourcing a service? Do you have critical mass for the service? How much flexibility is required? What is part of your own product and services offering? What elements have to remain under your own control and what elements can be outsourced to third party providers? Is the outsource solution provider able to meet your specifications? In addition, organisations need to consider the legislative requirements around data storage, compliance of the data centre with relevant standards, physical security, provision of the required uptime, electronic security, service levels and uptime, connection possibilities, power and cooling infrastructure as well as physical location. A shared data centre provider should offer stability and have the relevant national or global experience, adequate 24/7 operations and support, documentary proof of redundant systems, and importantly no single point of failure that can adversely affect service levels.

Selecting the right outsource partner and shared data centre, and choosing the appropriate services and solutions to push into the cloud, are essential in leveraging the advantages of the shared data centre. While this may not be a viable solution for all areas of every business, there are significant benefits to be realised, and partnering with the right provider will help businesses to harness these benefits and make the most of outsourced cloud-based services and solutions.

Written by Eckart Zollner, business development manager at The Jasco Group

Related Articles

Jasco showcases innovative broadcast and production solutions at MediaTech 2015Jasco Broadcast Solutions will be showcasing a variety of innovative solutions for broadcasters of all sizes at Med
LINK: http://www.screenafrica.com/page/news/mobile-tv/1652894-Shared-data-ce...
See more stories from screenafrica

Most recent headlines

06/10/2025

France Tlvisions Wins Prestigious 2025 EBU Technology & Innovation Award in Groundbreaking Collaboration with Dalet

France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...

04/09/2025

Monumental Sports & Entertainment and Dalet Win Prestigious 2025 NAB Show Project of the Year Award

Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...

16/06/2025

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Carmen Emmi, the Writer-Director of Plainclothes

By Bailey Pennick One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festi...

16/06/2025

Spotify's Brian Berner on Creativity, Connection, and What's Next for Advertisers at Cannes Lions

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is officially underway for...

16/06/2025

Francophone Content on Spotify Continues to Thrive Around the World

On Spotify, francophone content continues to cross borders at an unprecedented rate. In 2024 alone, more than 123 million listeners worldwide streamed audio con...

16/06/2025

Tegna Announces Major Expansion of Local News Programming

TYSONS, Va. Tegna Inc. is embarking on a notable expansion of their already substantial local news programming by launching live and on-demand, local newscasts ...

16/06/2025

Netflix Expands Programmatic Ad Sales with Yahoo DSP

Netflix has announced that it is expanding its global programmatic ad offerings by partnering with Yahoo DSP. This will enable brands to buy Netflix advertising...

16/06/2025

Sub51 & Soundtrax announce Drop Pad 3

Instrument now boasts full NKS support Sub51 and Soundtrax have just announced the launch of an updated and improved version of their innovative sample-base...

16/06/2025

Roku, Amazon Team Up to Dominate CTV Ad Market

NEW YORK In a landmark agreement to overtake the burgeoning connected TV (CTV) advertising market, Amazon Ads and Roku today announced a new integration that gi...

16/06/2025

EdgeBeam Wireless Names Conrad Clemson CEO

ATLANTA, BALTIMORE, CINCINNATI and IRVING, Texas The four major broadcast groups behind the ATSC 3.0-based EdgeBeam Wireless datacasting joint venture today nam...

16/06/2025

Amazon MGM Studios to Deploy Avid Tools on AWS

BURLINGTON, Mass. Avid today announced an extended agreement with Amazon MGM Studios to integrate Avid's Media Composer and Avid NEXIS on Amazon Web Service...

16/06/2025

Maxon Epic Sale Drops June 16

Maxon, maker of powerful, approachable software for creators working in 2D and 3D design, motion graphics, visual effects, gaming and more, today announced the ...

16/06/2025

Alfalite launches Skypix a new ceiling-mounted Led panel...

Alfalite, the only European manufacturer of LED displays, announces the launch of SKYPIX RGBW & IM, a new series of ceiling-mounted LED panels designed specifi...

16/06/2025

ALM/Busy Circuits launch Pip Filter & LFO

Two new compact 4HP modules introduced ALM/Busy Circuits have just announced the launch of two new Eurorack modules, the Pip Filter and Pip LFO, both of whi...

16/06/2025

VEON Announces USD 35 Million Share Buyback

16 Jun 2025 VEON Announces USD 35 Million Share Buyback Announcement marks the third phase of USD 100 million share buyback program Dubai, June 16, 2025: VEON...

16/06/2025

Summer Sale: Big Discounts on Ivory II Pianos - Now Through June 30th!

Save 40% or More on All Ivory II Collections!From now through June 30th, enjoy huge savings on all Ivory II Piano Collections. Our biggest discounts ever are be...

16/06/2025

Behind The Broadcast Booth, Ep. 3: Golf. My Future. My Game. Founder and CEO Craig Kirby Talks Advocacy in Sports and More

Behind The Broadcast Booth, Ep. 3: Golf. My Future. My Game. Founder and CEO Cra...

16/06/2025

The REMI Revolution Is Here: How Remote Production Technology in Esports Pioneers a New Age of Broadcast

The REMI Revolution Is Here: How Remote Production Technology in Esports Pioneer...

16/06/2025

From Super Bowl to Indy 500, New Orleans Artist Frenchy' Captures Energy of Sports Production on Canvas

From Super Bowl to Indy 500, New Orleans Artist Frenchy' Captures Energy of...

16/06/2025

NFL Films Enhances Post Studio With Dolby Atmos Audio

NFL Films Enhances Post Studio With Dolby Atmos Audio Forty-three channels of audio enable the facility to migrate to immersive By Dan Daley, Audio Editor Mo...

16/06/2025

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Storj's David Colantuoni on Expanding Cloud-Based Storage to Live Sports Production

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Storj's David Colantuoni on Expanding Cloud-Based...

16/06/2025

Grass Valley 4K Cameras Head to Greece for View Master Events' New OB Truck

Grass Valley 4K Cameras Head to Greece for View Master Events' New OB Truck By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director Monday, June 16, 2025 - 2:33 pm Pri...

16/06/2025

WWF and Sky Kids launch Wear it Wild with Ready Eddie Go!

Monday 16 June 2025 Families and children are invited to dress up, have fun and raise money to protect nature WWF UK and Sky Kids are teaming up to launch Wea...

16/06/2025

The Rohde & Schwarz R&S M3AR radio family reaches 10,000 unit milestone, demonstrating commitment to innovation and quality

The Rohde & Schwarz R&S M3AR radio family reaches 10,000 unit milestone, demonst...

16/06/2025

FOX Advertising Launches Enhanced Brand Storytelling Program with Strategic Investment in The Lighthouse

FOX Advertising Launches Enhanced Brand Storytelling Program with Strategic Inve...

16/06/2025

Run With Ray in Cork, Waterford, Kilkenny, Drogheda and Dublin as The Ray D'Arcy Show hits the road

Run with Ray is back! RT Radio 1's The Ray D'Arcy Show hits the road th...

15/06/2025

Music Production for Women free in-person workshops

July 2025 in Dublin, Berlin, Amsterdam & London Photo: Thea Martre Music Production for Women (MPW) have announced that they will be running a series of fo...

15/06/2025

Jason's Piano & API Drums instruments from Sulcata Sound

Composer/producer launches free virtual instruments Sulcata Sound is the latest venture of Jason Graves, a two-time British Academy Award-winnning composer,...

14/06/2025

Pluto TV Adds All Womens Sports Network's FAST Channel

NEW YORK Pluto TV and the All Womens Sports Network have launched a free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) AWSN channel in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and the Nor...

14/06/2025

Scripps Inks Multiyear Agreement for WNBA Games on Ion

NEW YORK and CINCINNATI E.W. Scripps has announced a new, multiyear agreement with the WNBA that will continue Ions regular-season coverage of the league on Fri...

14/06/2025

NAB Highlights Hidden Importance of Spectrum in Major Sports Broadcasting

WASHINGTON The National Association of Broadcasters highlighted the hidden importance of spectrum in the production of major sporting events and described wha...

14/06/2025

1.0 Sunset, BPS and NextGen Broadcast's Potential Dominate ATSC Meeting

WASHINGTON Sunsetting ATSC 1.0, expanding business opportunities for NextGen Broadcast and increasing international adoption of the ATSC 3.0 standard were top o...

14/06/2025

Samba TV and Acxiom Announce Massive 40-market Global Expansion

SAN FRANCISCO Samba TV and Acxiom have announced that they will dramatically expand their longstanding relationship....

14/06/2025

MPW announce free in-person workshops

July 2025 in Dublin, Berlin, Amsterdam & London Photo: Thea Martre Music Production for Women (MPW) have announced that they will be running a series of fo...

14/06/2025

San Francisco State University's School of Cinema Uses Blackmagic Design

San Francisco State University's School of Cinema Uses Blackmagic Design Brie Clayton June 13, 2025 0 Comments More than 40 Blackmagic Design came...

14/06/2025

Boris FX Mocha Pro Adds New AI Tools To Tackle VFX Tasks Fast

Boris FX Mocha Pro Adds New AI Tools To Tackle VFX Tasks Fast Jessie Electa Petrov June 13, 2025 0 Comments The 2025.5 release helps artists work more...

14/06/2025

AJA Debuts DRM2-Plus Mini-Converter Frame at InfoComm 2025

AJA Debuts DRM2-Plus Mini-Converter Frame at InfoComm 2025 Brie Clayton June 13, 2025 0 Comments Next-gen frame addresses diverse rackmount needs wit...

13/06/2025

Prime Minister: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at a Leader Who Champions Kindness

(L-R) Lindsay Utz, Michelle Walshe, and The Right Honourable Dame Jacinda Ardern attend the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Prime Minister at Eccles T...

13/06/2025

Materialists' Director Celine Song Reveals the Inspirations Behind the Film's Soundtrack

Photo credit: Atsushi Nishijima If you're a true lover of rom-coms, chances...

13/06/2025

Pure Drama and Fierce Rivalries set to dominate the world's most iconic sporting event

Pure Drama and Fierce Rivalries set to dominate the world's most iconic spor...

13/06/2025

Press Release: NFVF Opens Call for Public Film Screenings on GBV Awareness as South Africa Confronts Ongoing Femicide Crisis

Johannesburg, 12 June 2025 - The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an a...

13/06/2025

Central Texas Storm Knocks out KTXS Tower, Severely Damages Building

ABILENE. Texas A severe storm knocked down the tower and severely damaged the news studio and main facility of Sinclair-owned KTXS here on Sunday, June 8....

13/06/2025

Berklee's Music Business/Management Department Recognized by the Music Biz Association

Berklee's Music Business/Management Department Recognized by the Music Biz A...

13/06/2025

ATSC Honors Aldo Cugnini, Clarence Hau

WASHINGTON The ATSC, the Broadcast Standards Association, honored veteran technologist Aldo Cugnini and Clarence Hau, Senior Vice President of Standards, Policy...

13/06/2025

ESPN Doubles Down on Immersive Fan Experience for UFL Championship

(Editor's note: The 2025 UFL Championship Game between the D.C. Defenders and Michigan Panthers kicks off Saturday, June 14, at 8 p.m. Eastern. The game wil...

13/06/2025

Soulyft Audio release Chime

New iPad/iPhone synth App announced Following on from last year's release of Gradient Synth - which reached #6 on the App Store's Paid Music charts ...

13/06/2025

HBO Max Plans July Launches in 12 New Markets

LONDON Warner Bros. Discovery has announced that HBO Max will launch direct-to-consumer in multiple new countries this July as the streamer becomes available in...

13/06/2025

Verbit Launches Speaker Identification for Live ASR Broadcast Captions

AI voice transcription and captioning platform Verbit has added a new feature to its Captivate ASR solution the ability to identify specific features in automat...

13/06/2025

FCC's Anna Gomez Meets with TV Networks, Studio Execs and Unions

WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission member Anna Gomez has wrapped up two weeks in California visiting broadcasters, television studio executives, enter...