The Cold Truth of TCO in Data Center Choices: EcoDataCenter

Almost all business decisions come with a cost, but given the reliance that most organizations have on technology, the price of many choices is based purely on the infrastructure and management of the IT powering the chosen solutions. And, as more services and applications leave on-premise installations for the reliability and scalability of the cloud, it’s often the TCO of investing in remote data centers that’s critical.

Many IT decision-makers simply choose the hyperscale cloud providers that are rapidly becoming household names. For some, the seemingly default choice can come with many hidden caveats that are not immediately apparent at the point of “click to confirm.” Without reading much of the fine print tucked away below the fold, many organizations get a shock when the monthly bills start rolling in, especially when system use has been high – at times of peak demand or as new capabilities and features are added to client-facing services, for example. By the time the total cost of ownership becomes apparent, it’s often too late, with significant investments made in deployment, migration, and staff training. While vendor lock-in can be avoided in theory, it’s little details like data egress costs and the need to retool/re-optimize for another provider that prevent easy cloud-to-cloud migration in practice.

Given these factors, many IT professionals cast their nets wider than the big-name cloud providers, and moving away from the “Route One” choices unearths significant benefits. Surprisingly, one of the biggest wins is that of security – both data and physical. Organizations that process sensitive information daily, such as healthcare providers and security services need very specific and stringent security facilities in place before committing to a cloud provider. Smaller, specialized cloud companies can fit this niche well, satisfying highly particular criteria with regards to data integrity, air-gapping, and physical security, right down to access to the data center itself. Often, these seemingly esoteric provisions come at no extra cost and are available, therefore, to all DC users as part of a package. A data center provider we’ve covered previously on these pages is a prime example (see EcoDataCenter, here): high security, five-nines uptime metrics, superb ecological standards, and low cost.

It’s on the latter score of overall cost where it pays the CTO to look up from reading their AWS/GCP/Azure marketing brochures. With the largest proportion of a DC’s running costs comprising its power bill, it makes sense to look to regions where not only is electricity cheap but where energy is both cheap and renewable. The Nordic regions are prime examples where zero-carbon electricity from natural and renewable sources combines with massive bandwidth and connectivity options. In Sweden, EcoDataCenter’s position as primary DC provider is noteworthy. It offers a range of facilities (in Stockholm, Falun, and Piteå in the arctic north of the country) that operate with zero carbon impact under the strictest of security standards. The country’s progressive approach to power generation is a win for all organizations looking to lower their data center provisions’ TCO, and EcoDataCenter’s business model offers low cost in combination with highly flexible contract terms. This last feature puts an end to the experience many IT pros have had in the past when confronted with unexpected DC costs (and the uncomfortable internal meetings that follow).

There are several unique attributes worth noting in the way EcoDataCenter does business in addition to purely monetary concerns. It uses residual heat energy from its facilities to heat the local community’s buildings, for example, and invests in green tech peripherally, like in wood pellet manufacture locally (used in zero-carbon heating systems).

Those rushing to sign up with Oracle, IBM Cloud, or GCP might rethink their consideration of the label of “niche provider” as derogatory in data center terms. EcoDataCenter’s client list reads like a who’s-who of big industrial heavyweights in Europe and beyond. For serious capability, low TCO, zero-emissions, and high security, we believe EcoDataCenter ticks all the boxes. Read more here, or reach out directly to a representative to discuss your hosting requirements.