For the most part, corporations are no longer building their own data centers. That’s one reason why everyone thinks data centers are dead.
“The data center of the future is the one you don’t own.”
Hector Diaz, Senior Mission-Critical Thought and Business Leader
Another reason people say data centers are dead is because the cloud’s reputation is too good. But just because something can live in the cloud doesn’t mean it should.
For example, if storing a frequently-used dataset in the cloud would cause more latency than storing it on prem, consider leaving it in the data center.
Or, if you have to rebuild every element of your accounts-payable solution to get it to the cloud, maybe it makes more sense to use a software-as-a-service (SaaS) product instead.
The truth is that data centers will remain a vital piece of a larger infrastructure puzzle for the foreseeable future. Depending on your needs, that puzzle should include on-prem hosting, colocation, SaaS offerings, and yes, sometimes, the cloud.
