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Outsource Your Data Center

By Esther Shein

Rapid change in technology is nothing new. But some things remain a constant: CIOs will always be under pressure to prove IT spending improves business growth and, at the same time, find ways to deliver more with less. These days, that means figuring out which parts of IT to keep in-house and which to outsource.

One logical conclusion, industry experts say, is to let someone else take over the organization's IT assets, or physical infrastructure. After all, says Laura DiDio, a research fellow at IT firm Yankee Group, based in Boston, Mass., "If you could get rid of an Excedrin headache, you would, wouldn't you?''

Someone Else's Headache
More and more IT departments concede that they don't have the budget to buy an increasingly complex infrastructure, let alone hire and train the technicians to service it. Outsourcing to a hosted environment offers an attractive solution. "The trend started several years ago, so moving the physical assets is not a new concept," says Eugene V. Zakharov, a senior analyst at Technology Business Research, Inc., an IT market research firm in Hampton, N.H. Recently, he adds, "I'm seeing more acceptance in the marketplace."

A hosted hardware model best suits companies that have data-intensive environments. Financial services and manufacturing industries are prime candidates. (article continues)

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