A data center is a facility that centralizes an organization’s IT operations and equipment, as well as where it stores, manages, and disseminates its data. Data centers house a network’s most critical systems and are vital to the continuity of daily operations. Consequentially, the security and reliability of data centers and their information is a top priority for organizations.
As more data and infrastructure are virtualized, more solutions address the resources needed 
for access and protection of data in the cloud. A software-defined data center runs workloads locally or in the cloud or moves them back and forth as needed. Commonly, businesses use a physical data center along with cloud resources or providers.
Here are five ways data center consolidation can benefit organizations:
- Reduced Costs
A consolidated environment means a smaller network and application infrastructure. As a result, businesses need less hardware, including costly items like servers, routers, and other equipment. A reduction in server likely means standardizing on a few critical software applications, allowing companies to decrease operations costs.
- Increased Scalability.
As with most companies, business fluctuates. It could be an unexpected spurt of growth or it could be a temporary downslide that impacts your business. Colocation centers offer you the ability to quickly expand your data center capacity without the tedious and lengthy process of building out or upgrading your own data center. Likewise, it enables you to downsize if you need to.
- Local Network Access
When your local internet service provider is also your local colocation solution, everything runs 
more efficiently and smoothly. Upload, download, and disaster recovery all becomes a far easier and faster enterprise when you’re on a dedicated network. No need to share bandwidth with the entire Internet and no need to send your data around the world before it makes its way to and from your servers.
- Satisfy Compliance
Running a data center requires maintaining compliance with various industry regulations. Some companies may not experience difficulty meeting those requirements if they’re able to invest in quality staff and ongoing training. Others may want to consider passing on that responsibility to a qualified colocation center.
- Data Mobility
Users need to access IT workloads and data from anywhere, anytime, without incurring the associated infrastructure constraints. Virtual data center technology enables true data mobility, such that users can Run, Manage, Provision and Secure any workload or app on any cloud in accordance with the technical requirements and business policies. When the data is mobile, users can focus their efforts on managing the data instead of spending resource on 
infrastructure management efforts. By decoupling the applications from servers, the data center offers improved resilience and efficiency in scaling the workload or dealing with infrastructure performance bottlenecks.
For many businesses today, colocation just makes sense. It provides the infrastructure and security of a dedicated data center without the costs of maintaining such a facility on your own. By housing their servers in a colocation facility, companies enjoy the benefits of having their servers in the cloud while still maintaining physical control of their systems.
