There is nothing easy about building and managing a data center. These facilities are highly complicated, and usually, most companies only have a few staff members who fully understand the whole IT process (within the facility).
So it’s always a good idea to involve a data center consultant to manage the design, building infrastructure, and migration.
The current trend in the business is to reduce the complexity of operating a data center by consolidating several colocation centers into one large facility. With the Internet of Things (IoT) rapidly becoming a reality, most companies are also outgrowing their current infrastructure, so reducing complexity while migrating to a larger facility is crucial.
A consultant can help an organization focus on the bigger picture, ascertain the best option for the business, and find ways to reduce complexity and costs. Further, the consultant can also help build fail-proof links while moving hardware to avert disasters (while maintaining service uptime). Building or migrating data centers is extremely convoluted, so hiring external help can relieve some of the burdens.
How can a data center consulting firm help your organization?
Further, consultants will also be able to assist you in choosing a space that’s large enough, and adequate, with access to ample power, cooling, security, and protection from fire. By turning to an expert for help, you can save yourself from going over budget and getting late on deliverables, as their experience can help conceptualize possible obstacles that may pop up down the line.
Managing a data center requires clear and reliable communication between everyone involved. Staff members should be easily contacted, and technical details should never be overlooked. Most colocation centers struggle to choose the right tool, like a VMware Application Dependency Planner, hire the right people to implement and, monitor and report the correct information. As a result, a consultant can help look at it from a business and technical perspective to identify the best solutions for the company.
By hiring an external data center consultant, you can ensure that information sources, both automated and human, get equal attention. Human intelligence is vital to understand the information and make appropriate decisions (as automation depends on human input). Communication is important as management needs to involve staff in validation exercises, identify deliverables, tweak parameters, and verify discovery data.
Have you hired an external consultant? If so, what value did that consultant bring to your organization? Share your insights in the Comments box below.