Tom Peruzzi's thoughts on digital, innovation, IT and operations

Potentially no, but there is still a sub reality out there showing IT Operators or Facility Managers that owning their own datacenter is much cheaper, cooler, greaner, leaner, and whatever even if they just want to run 50 servers.

To be honest it could make sense, depending on your location, some geographic stuff and depending on the growth. But even google did not start by building their own datacenters. They rented before and now step by step they migrate to their owns – because they have reached a size of interest for having their own ones!

And if you think about your datacenter think about:

• who’s operating the facility
• who keeps care on USV, Diesel …
• who keeps care on getting all licence stuff done?
• who cleans the filters
• who is responsible for CCU & friends
• who is the cabling expert?
• who is the power expert?
• who is responsible for rack planing and provisioning …

and all of that in a twenty-four-seven environment …. ? Do you really want to be the Facility guy PLUS the Ops Leader? Can you combine those two or run them in a professional manner? Will you get headcounts for an electric expert as an IT Ops Leader? Tons of questions and nearly all – especially if you think about associated risks – should lead to the decision to NOT rund your own DC before you reached critical size.

The next interesting topic which always happens: If we still do not have the critical size, why don’t we do some shared hosting too? Because you do not have the skillset to do this? Because you are an internal service unit and you are not set up to offer on market prize on the external market? Because your SLAs are not that strong? Not really, potentially no, the main answer is: Because it is not your business!

So when do you reach the critical size? It does not depend on the number of systems, it depends on strategic and economic questions

• is running own datacenters a potential USP and can I run it cheaper/equal market?
• Sum of mass discount smaller than savings by own DC (economic value)
• extra flexibility needed (keep care! flex against price, and flex. against coolness)

The how and when will vary and potentially we will have to work on a new definition of critical size with regards to cloud computing, the price modell and the new datacenters (generation IV) which should reduce costs too.