The biggest single trend in data center outsourcing is outsourcing itself. As companies scramble to retain their competitive edge in an increasingly difficult and slippery global environment, executives are making smart decisions to take advantage of every technology innovation available.

Data center outsourcing is one way companies can realize significant savings.

You can reduce ongoing operational costs associated with housing and managing data centers. The labor savings alone can be extensive – not just salaries and benefits, but related costs of hiring and training, continuing education, travel, etc.

Then there are the savings from eliminating physical space needed data centers, along with associated overhead expenses. And the costs of purchasing, maintaining and upgrading equipment as well as software evaluation, acquisition and training and ongoing support.

Eliminating the need to purchase and upgrade infrastructure equipment reduces the drain on valuable capital funds. You can put that money toward your future bottom line. Or recapture those dollars and direct them toward new initiatives you’ve put on hold, new product research and development, market expansion or other opportunities.

Data center outsourcing allows you to transition to the next level.

You can sidestep increasingly detrimental issues caused by aging legacy systems. New generations of techs aren’t as familiar with the old systems, and new generations of technology often don’t interface well -- or at all -- with the old. As systems start to break down, delays and other costs increase. Performance could get caught in the crossfire.

Data center outsourcing has broad value, regardless of your industry, number of employees or number of locations. It’s entirely elastic – flexible and scalable to accommodate your company’s needs right now, grow seamlessly with you as you institute future changes, smoothly fluctuate with seasonality or other dips and turns in your business.

Not surprisingly, C-suite executives are looking for an internal trend – renewed concentration on core competencies. Data center outsourcing supports that.

For many companies, IT has become the proverbial elephant in the room – a very large distraction that literally takes up space and funds. Outsourcing sends the elephant away, so to speak, without sacrificing service. Without that distraction, you can clearly focus on activities most important to building your business. You can redeploy IT staff, applying their knowledge and experience toward internal service and quality improvements.

Increased reliability is another plus. Outsourcing usually ensures improved runtime, which translates into greater productivity. That means better job satisfaction and certainly better customer satisfaction.

Data center outsourcing offers options that let you be as conservative or as cutting-edge as you want.

Often “outsourcing” brings to mind handing off all your data center-related infrastructure and processes to someone else. And you can do that. But with growing commoditization of services, you can just as easily select only certain ones and retain the rest in-house.

Or you can opt for a comprehensive transformation in the way you look at IT and put it to work throughout your enterprise. Move into the cloud. Become a virtual organization.

Your customers are demanding more and more individualization. Why shouldn’t you expect the same from your service providers? You can, with data center outsourcing. And perhaps that’s the most significant trend – detailed tailoring of every element from services rendered and performance standards to pricing model options.

The more you investigate data center outsourcing, the more intriguing the idea becomes. If change is the new normal, transformation is becoming the expected new course of action for savvy executives and leading-edge companies.

What doors could it open for you?

Photo Credit: Jurvetson