Managed Dedicated Servers or Colocation? A Look at the Spectrum of Managed IT Options

Managed IT can mean different things to different people.  Many prefer to differentiate 2 separate options – managed dedicated servers OR colocation.   I prefer to think of Managed IT as a spectrum of options.

On one end of the spectrum is raw colocation -  where the client gets power, network, and rack space – and they manage their own IT infrastructure.

On the other end is a completely managed (dedicated) server – where the server is delivered as a turnkey solution – fully managed – for a simple monthly fee.

And in between is a set of options that IT managers can choose – including hands and eyes, managed backup, monitoring services, or fully managed colocated servers.  The later provides the same level of support as a managed dedicated server, except the hardware is owned by the client.

The further along this spectrum that you move towards fully managed servers, the higher leverage you get on the hosting provider’s expertise and the lower the overall cost if IT management. Because the expertise and infrastructure is shared across thousands of servers in the managed data center, the data center operator can offer server management far more cost effectively than most companies can do internally.