The cloud is not always the answer
The last decade has seen a strong narrative that public cloud is the right destination for all IT infrastructure. In many cases, this is true. But for a significant proportion of workloads — particularly in larger businesses — colocation delivers better performance, greater security and lower total cost of ownership than public cloud.
Understanding which approach is right for each workload requires an honest, independent assessment. That is what Open Way Technologies provides.
What colocation actually means
Colocation means housing your own physical servers and networking equipment in a professional data centre. You own the hardware; the facility provides power, cooling, physical security and high-speed connectivity. The data centre operator is responsible for the building and its infrastructure; you are responsible for your servers and software.
This is fundamentally different to public cloud, where you own no hardware and pay for compute, storage and networking on a consumption basis.
When colocation wins
- Predictable, consistent workloads — cloud pricing is variable; colo costs are fixed and often significantly lower for consistent compute
- Latency-sensitive applications — physical proximity and dedicated hardware eliminates the variability of shared cloud infrastructure
- Large data stores — cloud storage and egress costs can be substantial; colo with your own storage is often cheaper
- Compliance and data sovereignty — colocation in a UK facility with physical access controls can simplify certain compliance requirements
- AI and HPC workloads — high-density GPU compute is increasingly available in specialist colo facilities at lower cost than cloud equivalents
When cloud wins
- Variable or unpredictable compute requirements
- Rapid scaling requirements
- Development and test environments
- SaaS-based applications that simply require internet connectivity
- Organisations without the in-house skills to manage physical hardware
The hybrid answer
Most organisations end up with a hybrid approach — some workloads in colocation, some in public cloud — connected by high-speed, low-latency networking. Open Way Technologies assesses your workloads independently and recommends the right architecture for each. Contact us for a free assessment.