Digital transformation, driven by the accelerating advances and proliferation of technology, is impacting every industry and disrupting many. The digitization of business is separating the winners from the losers faster than ever. CIOs need to figure out how to get away from legacy infrastructure that works against the agility needed to win in today’s business environment. Out-dated data centers or computer rooms and inflexible networks are some of the key obstacles to overcome.
Driving the need to digitally transform, mobile users want to consume services anytime, anywhere. IT departments need to leverage public cloud infrastructure and SaaS applications to increase flexibility and accelerate deployments; databases must be managed securely in a local facility; information needs to be shared with partners. Data must be protected off-site.
With the spreading of IT infrastructure far and wide, and an increasingly distributed ecosystem of partners, how will the IT organization connect it all?
DC BLOX: Connected Data Centers for Digital Business
At DC BLOX, we understand that new approaches are needed to enable rapid change. Infrastructure needs to be more flexible and dynamic to facilitate digital business — which is why we offer
data center network and connectivity services that help enterprises meet their requirements for bandwidth, latency, location, cost and more. Our data centers are equipped with robust networking and an ecosystem of communications partners to connect customers to a wealth of providers, partners and platforms.
The Five Key Digital Transformation Network Challenges
Here are five of the key challenges that enterprises may face when relying on local providers and legacy infrastructure for digital transformation and tips for how DC BLOX’s connectivity solutions can help remove those barriers.
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Bandwidth Availability – Moving ever-expanding amounts of data off-site to meet consumer demand or to protect data may require connections of up to 10Gbps or greater. Some communications providers may not be equipped to offer this level of bandwidth at enterprise sites, and it could also require a costly and time-consuming run of fiber to desired locations.
DC BLOX delivers 10Gbps connections from every data center to the Internet and 100Gbps to a variety of connection points on our private optical network — with higher bandwidth available. Whether it’s an e-commerce application, cloud access, private partner connection or peering at an Internet Exchange, DC BLOX’s Ethernet Services provide point-to-point and multi-point connections that can extend even beyond 10Gbps as demand expands.
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Latency Requirements – Although footprints are becoming more distributed, location can still be an inhibiting factor for some enterprises. If data is too far from its point of consumption, or if near real-time applications need data fast, network latency can create unacceptable performance. Low latency requirements may rule out use of the public Internet, and local providers may not be able to deliver the required connectivity and latency at a reasonable cost.
DC BLOX’s private optical network across the Southeast delivers high-speed connectivity backed by latency SLA commitments. Our Ethernet Network Services deliver low-latency connections to the Atlanta and Montgomery Internet Exchanges, public cloud providers, IT resources located in other DC BLOX data centers and other business locations. Our Service Level Agreement guarantees 5ms of latency or less between any two points on the DC BLOX network.
DC BLOX data centers are also great locations for companies that need to deliver content or run latency-sensitive applications to users and businesses in the Southeastern United States.
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Lack of Provider Options – Many businesses are limited in the selection of communications providers that are available to deliver service at their business locations. This lack of choice and competition means enterprises often settle for costs, service options and schedules that don’t meet their needs.
A carrier-neutral colocation provider like DC BLOX, on the other hand, offers a variety of carriers to choose from — including AT&T, Comcast, CenturyLink, Windstream, Cogent and Zayo to name a few — that can meet a business’s varied connectivity requirements. DC BLOX also offers virtual cross-connects (at the same price as local cross-connects), which enable access to any carrier across our data center footprint.
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Inadequate Network Reach – Digital business requires timely and cost-effective access to a broad host of locations and partners in order to be fully enabled. For instance, companies may have applications running in a public cloud to manage transactions from customers using their mobile app. That cloud application may need to share sales and inventory information with the company’s database in its on-premises data center. Orders based upon inventory may need to be sent to various suppliers. In order to allow this ecosystem to function successfully, secure and fast connections to partners, providers and platforms are critical.
Unfortunately, the breadth of connectivity requirements may be a challenge for a business’s current communications provider to meet. They may be too slow to implement, or they may charge exorbitant fees for certain connections.
DC BLOX’s private, software-defined network and ecosystem of communications partners enable rapid provisioning of connections to the providers and platforms businesses rely on. With our private network, DC BLOX can supply connections to the Internet Exchange in Atlanta from all our facilities, which enables access to hundreds of additional providers to connect to anywhere in the world.
With workloads moving to the public cloud in droves, enabling connectivity to support hybrid cloud and multi-cloud implementations is critical. DC BLOX’s partnership with Megaport provides the ability to provision private, high-performance network connectivity on-demand to all the major cloud providers, including AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.
Using a data center partner like DC BLOX enables this holistic approach to connecting all the pieces of the enterprise IT environment, ensuring ease, efficiency and a competitive edge.
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Lack of Networking Resources – While IT infrastructure is becoming more dispersed and connectivity is getting more complex, network engineers that have the most up-to-date knowledge on how to meet these demands are becoming harder to find — and they come at a cost. Nevertheless, expert insight is crucial for businesses wanting to get the best of their network and operations.
Placing infrastructure in a DC BLOX data center allows immediate access to our expert resources, connectivity partners and software-defined network. This makes our networking assets available to support the design and implementation of the flexible, cost-effective and timely network connectivity businesses need.
As IT organizations define their digital transformation strategies, partnering with a company like DC BLOX that provides core data center and robust networking infrastructure can help accelerate achievement of their goals.
If you’re a company in the Southeast, DC BLOX will serve you locally so your business can connect globally.
About DC BLOX
DC BLOX is a digital infrastructure provider in the Southeast that delivers integrated data center and fiber network solutions at scale to enable hyperscalers, enterprises, communications providers, and technology companies to offer enhanced digital services to their customers and accelerate the region’s economic growth. DC BLOX’s data centers are located in Atlanta, GA; Birmingham, AL; Huntsville, AL; Chattanooga, TN; Greenville, SC, Myrtle Beach, SC, with several others in development. For more information, please visit www.dcblox.com, call +1.877.590.1684, and connect with DC BLOX on X, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.
Media Contact:
iMiller Public Relations for DC BLOX
Tel: +1.866.307.2510
Email: pr@imillerpr.com
