Is Your Colocation Provider Cloud-Enabling or a Cloud obstacle ?

Colocation offers a remarkable platform to build hybrid applications as the result of proximity of cloud hosted resources to the colocated enterprise assets. With a cross-connect in the center, these connections can act as direct fiber connection from an enterprise router to a hosting or cloud provider router. In other words, a high speed connection with a low latency, supplied directly to the provider within the same facility with assets.

It will eliminate the latency and cut down the prices of such connection, saving the enterprise costs and increasing the efficiency. Performance will be accelerated and the computing instances will be protected from the public internet. It will enable the creation of colocation-to-cloud asset or cloud-to-cloud applications. Earlier due to high-latency in internet connections, these were not possible. There are several businesses which are seeking co-location to start with, and later they want to upgrade to hybrid cloud.

However, the user needs to be careful while choosing the co-location provider as it can either be cloud enabling or may become as a cloud obstacle if they don't have the right cloud architecture. There are few important pointers that needs to be taken into consideration while deciding upon a cloud enabling co-location provider.

Here is the checklist to ensure you are agreeing to the service terms of a RIGHT co-location provider:

• Check for what all cloud enablement co-location providers can offer: This will help you understand in advance which one can be trusted for future association.
• Plan in advance the estimation: You as a business should pre-plan what all can be the requirements in future and ensure whether the co-location provider will be able to meet those future-needs. Basically, check if the provider is future-ready or not.
• Also ensure the co-location provider has the highest standards of disaster recovery policies and strategies.
• You must ask the co-location providers whether the applications in the Co-location deployment will remain to be in a Hybrid cloud strategy over the next 3-5 years.