Northern Virginia data center providers such as CoreSite and Switch and Data (Equinix) in Reston, Equinix and Dupont Fabros Technology in Ashburn, and other area providers such as Savvis and AT&T provide companies with well-connected, powerful and secure data centers without having to utilize corporate space, power and human resources to maintain the data center infrastructure. Many times the Ashburn and Reston data centers provide greater security, scalability, power density, and energy efficiency than a corporate in-house data center environment. In choosing one of the aforementioned third party Reston data centers or Ashburn data center, most companies gain access to a truly better setting for the heart of their company (ICT infrastructure), while realizing cost savings, more efficient personnel management, interconnection opportunities, and an overall greener computing environment. Outsourced Northern Virginia data centers contribute a great deal in protecting a given company’s critical and confidential data, a vital attribute for those large business entities and government agencies that operate in and around the nation's capital. With most facilities offering 24-hour onsite security, locking cabinets/cages at a minimum – some with mantraps, biometric scanners, key card access and other controls, a company’s gear is difficult to tamper with unless you have direct access to the data center cage area or the “key” to the cabinet per se. Additionally, third party Northern Virginia data centers offer redundant power and cooling systems, delivering increased reliability and maximized uptime, ensuring business continuity. In short, selecting a third party Reston data center or similar facility in Ashburn is a smart business decision as opposed to keeping the majority of a company’s deployment in-house. Companies can deploy faster, add space and power on demand, choose between numerous connectivity providers (carriers/ISPs – if carrier neutral), reap the benefits of a lower P.U.E. data center environment, and sleep well at night knowing the heart of their business is secure and powered on. Pricing is always a concern when choosing to outsource to a Northern VA data center services provider. The companies in the space do not make it easy to compare “apples to apples.” Instead they may bury costly additions in areas outside of base rent or interconnection. Some providers give an “all-in” per cabinet cost that can be anything but. So it is advised to dig deep into the minutia of an agreement to ensure you have the TCO down to the penny. With providers enjoying incredible demand with limited market supply, pricing tends to lean their way more times than not. Still, at the end of the day, even with the issues in pricing and data center to data center comparison, the end result is a significant net gain in choosing one of the third party providers within the Northern VA data center network as opposed to doing it in-house One final thing that may or may not be of interest to a potential data center buyer is the availability of services. Northern VA data center network services providers can offer vastly different levels of “services.” From a hands-off, “You run your gear - we’ll keep it secure, at the proper temperature and powered on” approach to full managed services and/or cloud services, the options run the gamut. Be aware, those who offer full managed services may leverage them, locking a potential buyer into an exclusive agreement to buy their services if and when they should need them. There is less negotiating power relative to those Reston data center and Ashburn data center providers in the Northern VA data center network who have multiple MSP customers within their data center who a prospective buyer could choose between. Still, basic “remote hands” services are a good thing to have in the event something comes up after hours or when staff simply can’t get to the data center. Remote hands is a service that allows a customer to submit a trouble ticket and the onsite technicians perform the task for the customer. This includes basic endeavors such as server resets not more in-depth configurations and trouble shooting. In today’s day and age, with IT budget cuts and personnel wearing more hats than ever before, it just makes sense to go with an outsourced Northern Virginia data center. Let the data center experts do what they do best while allocating precious resources to areas that truly need them.
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