The First Steps in Getting to the Total Cost of Ownership
What are the primary reasons for data center expansion? What is the primary goal of program interviews? What key items need to be addressed to develop the new design criteria? Paul Schlattman?s first column in his series for Mission Critical Magazine, ?Year Long Road Trip: Getting to the total cost of ownership,? answers these questions and explains the first-steps to developing the data center program: team development, program interviews, and establishing the final program report. Read part 1: Introduction
Why can?t we expand our data center?
As we create the need to cost-justify building a new data center, senior management is likely to ask, ?Why can?t we expand our existing data center?? See Paul Schlattman?s column ?Year-Long Road Trip: Site Surveys and PFT? in Mission Critical Magazine as he explores this issue related to total cost of ownership. Read part 2: Site Surveys and Power, Fiber, and Threat (PFT)
Data Center Planning
As we progress to the final data center site selection, it is important to consider regional construction methods for building a greenfield data center, as well as wholesale / colocation providers design criteria for comparison. Each geographical region offers its own advantages and disadvantages. Read part 3: Data Center Planning
Comparison Between Building One?s Own Data Center or a Data Center Provider
There are multiple brokerage companies that offer data center selection services, but only a few have the expertise needed to provide sound consulting when it comes to data center site selection. A true data center brokerage company has extensive experience with data center providers and is familiar with the pricing structure that is not common within the typical real estate transaction. Chances are they have navigated through the process many times and can give advice concerning the comparison of one type of data center provider to the other. Read part 4: Selecting a Wholesale / Colocation Data Center Provider
Push Pull vs. Network Cutover
Now that IT has evaluated building its own data center vs. migrating into a wholesale or colocation data center, IT management needs to determine the process of relocating the data center into the new target environment. Over a decade ago, many companies would have chosen to cut over to disaster recovery (DR), pick up their equipment, and move it to the new target data center. Today, data center migration almost completely utilizes network cutover to complete the migration process. This is done by refreshing old equipment into the new target environment. While the data center migration process typically takes longer to achieve, the associated risks are reduced as well as some of the upfront costs to relocate. Read part 5: Determining Migration Process and Leveling Costs
Developing the final TCO report
Over the last year, this column has evaluated the six steps in creating an effective TCO model to build or lease a new data center. In the final column, Paul Schlattman takes us through the components of creating a cost / benefit TCO to justify a new project. He focuses on the importance of knowing your audience ? analysts have categorized decision makers into four different buckets including the Driver, Socialite, Thinker, and Relater ? and creating a report to cater to all decision makers. Read part 6: Developing the Final TCO Report