If your small business relies on technology, but technology is not your primary business, then you want your staff to focus on your products and services and not the computers and network. You can reduce the time and effort required by your business to address your technology needs by using the services of a colocation facility. You'll need fewer staff to be dedicated to supporting your technology, which reduces your HR expenditures. Here is how colocation helps your small business manage your IT resources.

Shared Facilities Means Shared Costs

In the colocation model, you'll share computer servers and networks with other businesses. These will be located in a central facility where the environmental conditions (e.g. temperature and humidity), power and security are all managed by the colocation vendor. You won't need to manage dedicated space in your office for the computer and other hardware. This gives you the same access to the most current computing resources as your larger competitors. The costs of the facility are shared between customers, so you will likely pay less than managing your own resources internally.

Leave the Problems to the Vendor

By using the managed IT services of the colocation vendor, they are responsible for the maintenance of all hardware and software. They can transition you to other servers and networks while they repair components, so the impact to your business is negligible. Upgrades to hardware components and software can also be done without you noticing. All of this is done without taking up any of your staff's time so they can remain focused on your core business and operations.

Experience Smoother Growth and Expansion

The colocation staff will also help you plan for additional computing resources when you are ready to grow or need to expand suddenly to take on larger customer projects. Capacity planning and management is a time-consuming task that requires dedicated technical staff who understand how the technology needs to support your growth. The colocation facility can establish a growth plan for your business that allows you to have just the right amount of resources when you need it. You won't have to deal with too much capacity too soon or not enough to support your rate of growth.

Feel Confident of Your Backup and Recovery Solutions

Protecting your information is another complicated task and one that the colocation facility also takes on for you. The colocation staff can help you establish a backup and recovery plan that protects your company's data. They will have an overall disaster recovery plan for the facility should a major outage happen. They can also address your company's specific needs during a disaster recovery effort.