Colocation pricing demystified: budgeting, control and flexibility

Businesses that run their own in-house data centre need to allocate significant long-term capital investment. They also have to cover the estate, fabric and maintenance of the building and have complete responsibility for all aspects of the architecture, power, connectivity and ongoing maintenance – something that has proved to be particularly challenging during the Covid pandemic.

By outsourcing, businesses pass these concerns over to the data centre provider who assumes responsibility for rack space, cooling, humidity control, security, redundant power and options for internet and cloud connectivity. This switch from a high CapEx investment to an OpEx model has obvious financial benefits and operational advantages. And, importantly, it allows businesses to scale their solutions based on evolving business requirements and ensures that IT infrastructure is managed and accessible, even during extraordinary circumstances, such as lockdown.

Datum’s monthly recurring rates have three key components:

• A flat monthly fee (allocated power capacity), which licenses the use of the power, cooling and associated services such as security, available redundancies, humidity control, monitoring, facility management, etc. The amount is determined by the anticipated capacity or maximum kW draw of a client’s equipment. This maximum kW capacity is set at the contract stage to ensure that provision is made for the power requirements of all client installations within our facility’s overall capacity
• A variable monthly charge (actual power usage) for the actual number of kWh used during the month. This can be set at fully fixed, partially fixed or fully variable rates and is prepaid based on the kWh applicable to the agreed capacity
• The overage charges – all metered power usage over and above the prepaid element

For companies with smaller capacity requirements, we offer the Datum Foundation Package. This fixed price 12-month package (minimal set-up cost and competitive monthly charge) allows our foundation clients to benefit from a single rack with up to 3kW power and cooling and up to 100MB dedicated burstable IP transit in our premium facility.