As manager of IT Engineering at Enova Financial, Jeff Bagnall found that his company’s need for power, space and cooling had far outstripped the capabilities of the facility.
“We were an explosive growth company, with a startup environment attitude,” Bagnall says. “Get it out, get it out fast, and if there are growth problems, we’ll figure it out later.”
When the time came to address the growth issues, Bagnall began looking at colocation centers, a type of data center where multiple customers keep their mission-critical equipment and data.
Smart Business spoke with Bagnall about why he decided IT outsourcing (ITO) was the right move and what he looked for in an ITO provider.
What challenges was your business facing?
There was not always proper planning. Our growth was massive, as far as how many servers were required. Different applications required double the amount of nodes needed to run them over a year’s span because the growth was so large. We didn’t have any room in our office in downtown Chicago for all the equipment.
And even if we had room, we probably wouldn’t have planned it properly due to our explosive growth.
Also, we don’t own the buildings our corporate offices are in; we just lease them. So it wouldn’t make sense to bury $1 million or so into a place we don’t even own when, in four or five years, we might just abandon the building. About four years ago, we occupied one floor. Now we occupy six floors, and we’re looking to acquire a seventh.
We’re probably in the building for the long haul, but to make that kind of investment in a building you don’t own doesn’t make sense.
What IT requirements were necessary to improve the situation?
When a company is growing quickly, it needs more power right away. Having access to data 24 hours a day, seven days a week was also very important, so if there is a problem in the middle of the night, you have access to the colocation center.
It is also important to have a data center provider that is SAS 70 compliant. For example, some facilities have programs that give the auditors the documentation they require. With some other colocation providers, a company would have to produce its own documentation.
A sane shipping area and process is also something to consider, as is access that allows you to get in and out of the facility quickly.
