Formed of over 21,000 members, CIF champions and advocates the adoption of cloud-based technologies, while improving the standards of the industry and educating its members with new research and whitepapers. CIF membership also increases transparency through certification to a Code of Practice for credible online cloud service providers, thus assisting end users and businesses alike. Despite the growth of cloud-based solutions, colocation data centres have continued to remain a viable option for many organisations. The rise in colocation providers has particularly allowed SMEs and start-ups to benefit from an operational expenditure (OPEX) model without relinquishing control over their physical IT estate, and shows little sign of regress. This notion is supported by research from analyst firm 451 Research, which found that the amount of datacentre space occupied by colocation providers was up 11 per cent in 2014, and is forecast to maintain this level of growth through to 2018 as organisations continue to outsource their IT. Greg McCulloch, CEO of Aegis Data, commented: “Data centres and cloud technologies are commonly misunderstood as competing services at opposite ends of the spectrum – we don’t see this to be the case at all.
“Increasingly, the rise of cloud services is affording colocation facilities like us greater opportunities to enhance our proposition and our customer network. Growing data demands means cloud providers are relying on the support of colocation providers to equip them with the hardware and connectivity to operate effectively and efficiently. It is an ecosystem, which is constantly evolving, and our decision to become a CIF member reinforces this understanding. We are now able to utilise their network of resources and industry experts, therefore maintaining our commitment and high-level of service towards our customers and IT best practices.”
Alex Hilton, CEO at CIF, said: “The inclusion of yet another colocation data centre provider to CIF epitomises the progress of both our membership base and the cloud industry as a whole. Neither cloud service providers nor third party data centres should be seen as separate entities but instead as a cohesive effort, each assisting each other for the benefit of its end-users. We are thrilled to have Aegis Data on board and are looking forward to a collaborative partnership in furthering cloud-based services.”
