Wholesale Data Center Providers and Go-to-Market Strategy (GTM) for Growth

Are you part of a wholesale data center provider or operator?

Do you work on a go-to-market team that needs a better GTM strategy to achieve your company’s growth goals? Across all relevant areas -- including sales, marketing, customer success, product, channel partnerships, and executive leadership?

Wholesale data center providers are poised for substantial growth in today's digital landscape.

Hyperscale Data Centers

One promising avenue is the rapidly growing demand for hyperscale data centers.

As cloud computing, IoT applications, and Big Data analytics continue to expand, data center providers can seize this opportunity by offering scalable solutions tailored to meet the evolving infrastructure needs of technology giants and enterprises.

By strategically locating their facilities near major urban centers and connectivity hubs, providers can ensure seamless and low-latency connections, making them an attractive choice for high-value clients.

Sustainability-Focued Enterprise Clients

Another exciting growth opportunity lies in the development of eco-friendly data centers.

With increasing concerns about environmental impact and energy consumption, wholesale data center providers can stand out by investing in energy-efficient designs and renewable energy sources.

Embracing sustainability aligns with global environmental goals and positions providers as forward-thinking industry leaders. This approach can attract environmentally-conscious clients who aim to reduce their carbon footprint while lowering operational costs over the long term.

By embracing these trends, wholesale data center providers can thrive in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Wholesale vs. Colocation Data Centers

When it comes to data centers, wholesale data centers and colocation data centers are both essential parts of the digital infrastructure landscape. However, they cater to distinct needs and exhibit unique characteristics.

Wholesale Data Centers

Wholesale data centers, often called "wholesale colocation," are a data center model where a single tenant or organization exclusively occupies the entire facility.

Wholesale data centers' key features and advantages include

Single-Tenant Model: Wholesale data centers are designed to serve a single tenant or enterprise exclusively. This tenant typically leases an entire data center building or a substantial portion.
Built-to-Suit: Wholesale data centers are typically custom-built to meet the precise requirements of the tenant. This includes tailoring infrastructure, power density, and layout to suit the tenant’s needs.
Scalability and Capacity: These facilities usually have ample space and power capacity. So the tenant can expand within the facility without the need for significant construction or expansion projects.
Long-Term Commitment: Wholesale data center leases typically involve long-term agreements spanning several years. This extended commitment provides stability and predictable costs.
Control and Privacy: Tenants in wholesale data centers have complete control over the entire facility. This high level of control ensures data privacy and security that supports the tenant's specific requirements and compliance needs.
Infrastructure Management: When it comes to maintaining and managing the data center infrastructure, including cooling, power, and physical security, the responsibility generally falls on the tenant. This approach allows a high degree of customization and substantial operational oversight.

Colocation Data Centers:

In contrast, colocation data centers offer a different approach to data center infrastructure.

Shared Facility: Colocation data centers provide a shared environment where multiple tenants or businesses coexist within the same data center facility. Shared infrastructure fosters cost savings through economies of scale. With much lower entry-level pricing possible, colocation can even appeal to small businesses and early-stage startups.
Flexibility and Control: Tenants retain substantial control over their IT infrastructure within a colocation facility. They can select their servers, storage, and networking equipment, allowing customized configurations.
Reduced Capital Expenditure: Colocation eliminates the need for organizations to construct and manage their own standalone data centers. This approach significantly reduces upfront capital expenses and ongoing operational costs.
Network Connectivity: Colocation facilities often offer robust network connectivity options with access to multiple telecommunications carriers, internet service providers (ISPs), and cloud providers. This redundancy and choice enhance network reliability.
Security and Compliance: Colocation providers typically have strict physical security measures, such as biometric access controls, video surveillance, and fire suppression systems. Various in-demand compliance certifications are also commonplace.
Scalability: Businesses can quickly scale their IT infrastructure up or down as needed within a colocation facility, providing agility for companies experiencing growth or fluctuations in demand.

The choice between wholesale and colocation data centers comes down to different kinds of companies' specific requirements and objectives.

Wholesale data centers offer dedicated, custom-built facilities with total control and scalability, while colocation data centers provide a shared environment with cost savings and network connectivity.

What Enterprises Are Looking for When Choosing the Right Wholesale Data Center

With data, uptime, and reliability now so core to so many enterprises, the demand for reliable and scalable data center services has never been higher.

Enterprise IT clients understand that choosing a wholesale data center provider is a critical decision that can impact their business's success. When selecting a wholesale data center provider, enterprise IT clients look for several key factors that ensure their data infrastructure meets performance, security, and scalability requirements.

Reliability and Uptime: Enterprise IT clients look for data centers with impeccable reliability and uptime. Downtime can result in significant financial losses and damage a company's reputation. So, clients seek providers with a track record of high availability, backed by redundant power and cooling systems, and robust disaster recovery plans.
Scalability: Enterprises grow and evolve, and their data center needs change accordingly. A scalable data center is essential, allowing clients to expand their infrastructure seamlessly as their business demands increase. Clients look for providers that offer flexibility in terms of space, power, and connectivity options.
Security: Cybersecurity is a top priority for enterprise clients. They expect data centers to have multiple physical and digital security measures, including access controls, surveillance systems, biometric authentication, and compliance with industry standards. Compliance with regulations such as GDPR and HIPAA is also crucial for clients in specific sectors.
Energy Efficiency: As sustainability becomes a significant concern, enterprise clients increasingly seek data center providers prioritizing energy efficiency. Providers implementing green technologies, such as efficient cooling systems and renewable energy sources, can be more attractive to environmentally-conscious clients and potentially offer cost savings.
Network Connectivity: Robust network connectivity matters for enterprises, especially those with global operations. Clients seek wholesale data center providers with a diverse network of carriers and the ability to establish low-latency connections to support their applications and services.
Geographical Location: The location of a data center can significantly impact latency and accessibility. Enterprise IT clients often prefer data centers located strategically to minimize latency and provide easy access for their IT teams. Proximity to major business hubs and network exchange points is a considerable advantage.
Cost-Effectiveness: While quality and reliability are super important, enterprise clients are also conscious of costs. They seek providers that offer competitive pricing models, transparent billing, and the potential for cost savings through energy-efficient technologies and scalable solutions.
Compliance and Certifications: Many industries have specific compliance requirements, such as SOC 2, PCI DSS, or FISMA. Enterprise clients look for data center providers that have achieved relevant certifications, as this can simplify their own compliance efforts.
Support and Service Level Agreements (SLAs): Prompt and reliable customer support is essential. Clients want to know that their provider will be there to address any issues quickly. Well-defined SLAs that guarantee uptime and response times can instill confidence in clients.
Track Record and Reputation: Enterprise IT clients often consider wholesale data center providers' track record and reputation. Positive testimonials, case studies, and references from other satisfied clients can be influential factors in the decision-making process.

Choosing a wholesale data center provider is a strategic decision for enterprise IT clients. They prioritize reliability, scalability, security, energy efficiency, network connectivity, location, cost-effectiveness, compliance, support, and the provider's reputation.

Why Wholesale Data Centers Need to Modernize Their Go-to-Market Game Plan (Disrupt or Be Disrupted)

According to recent research by Gartner, a whopping 83% of the process that goes into making a business-to-business (B2B) purchase decision happens before a potential buyer even talks to a seller. This process includes doing research, comparing options, and figuring out pricing.

Another study from McKinsey & Company found that between 70% to 80% of B2B decision-makers now prefer to make decisions using digital means, like websites and online resources.

In its B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report, LinkedIn and Edelman concluded that although thought leadership is still crucial for engaging customers, it's become challenging to stand out amid all the noise.

Now, think about slipping into your favorite comfy pair of jeans and well-worn sneakers on a lazy weekend. Sticking the same old marketing and sales playbook might feel easy and familiar, but there are better approaches than this one.

Have you ever been told to watch out for the six most dangerous words? "We've always done it this way."

That mindset served the taxi industry poorly when Uber and Lyft came along. Blockbuster Video didn't fare well against Netflix, Hulu, and other streaming giants. And remember when Motorola and BlackBerry dominated the mobile market? They fell behind when smartphones took over.

And what about Microsoft? They didn't do so hot when they timidly entered the mobile device space while trying to protect their desktop OS franchise.

So, here's a critical question for your wholesale data center: Are you ready to be the disruptor rather than getting disrupted? Or should you rethink your strategy for growth before it's too late?

To avoid being left behind, consider two undeniable realities:

Your ideal clients don't want to spend time with your sales team until they're pretty far along in their decision-making journey. According to Gartner, that point is at 83%. Prospects actively avoid speaking with sales reps during their research.
Closing a sale isn't the endgame; it's just the start. In a world where customer happiness, retention, and growth are crucial, selling to the wrong clients can stall your data center's growth. To succeed, you need everyone on your go-to-market team—sales, marketing, customer success, product, channel partnerships, and leadership—to be on the same page.

Other Wholesale Data Center Resources

4 Big Wholesale Data Center Problems The modern-day wholesale data center is a complicated place. The emergence of mobile devices, connected cars, and other smart things has placed ever-increasing pressure on large colocation facilities. The end user’s expectations are also at an all-time high, so the demand for data will not slow down (ever). So, data center managers manage all the different variables while controlling costs. So, what do wholesale data centers do to face the big problems?

4 Mistakes Colocation and Wholesale Data Centers Make With Digital Transformation Many colocation and wholesale data center providers include digital transformation in their menu of solutions promoted on their websites. But here’s a dirty little secret many don’t want to know: Many of these same companies' own sales and marketing teams struggle with digital transformation. To help you ensure your company doesn’t repeat its transgressions, consider these four mistakes that colocation and wholesale data center sales and marketing teams make when working on their digital transformation.

Comparing Wholesale Data Centers vs. Colocation Data Centers There are two major groupings most data centers fall within: wholesale data centers and retail data centers. Colocation data centers offer retail data centers, which provide both retail and rental options for small businesses. At a basic level, colocation facilities provide leasing options to rent single servers, cages, and racks. These options suit businesses wanting to take advantage of colocation on a budget. Wholesale colocation is preferred by larger enterprises that require entire rooms or facilities, leasing up to tens of thousands of square feet.

How Does a Wholesale Data Center Differ from Web Hosting? A wholesale data center and a web hosting provider can simultaneously be similar and completely different. It comes down to what your business hopes to achieve with a hosting or colocation solution. At the most basic level, when you think of web hosting, the first thing that probably comes to mind is hosting providers like GoDaddy or HostGator. However, on the other hand, when you think of data centers, you most likely think of massive facilities that provide IT infrastructure support to businesses.

How Wholesale Data Centers Attract Great Website Leads Most sales managers and executives in the data center industry focus on generating revenue and client retention. However, before new clients can come on board, you must first have leads for potential clients. Now that as much as 90% of the decision is being made by potential clients before they’re ready to talk to your sales team, how can you make sure that your wholesale data center gets found early enough in the sales cycle to be relevant and in the mix?

Is the Wholesale Data Center Near You Offering the Best Connectivity? If your business has high bandwidth, storage, and power requirements or needs highly secure, modular services, wholesale data center services are likely your best option. Though the overall cost of your colocation service will undoubtedly be higher, you will appreciate benefits such as larger data center footprints, more control over your infrastructure, better utilization of your IT staff, and cost avoidance of building your own dedicated data center.

Is Wholesale Colocation Causing Market Oversupply? The simple answer to this question is first looking at supply and then demand. However, you might come to the wrong conclusion without digging deeper into both aspects. While it is true that data center capacity gluts sometimes make the headlines (in the specialized press, at least), we need to know more. Answers to the following questions help make a definitive statement about wholesale colocation and its effect on the market.

Learn how Wholesale Data Center Providers fit in with Data Center Providers and Go-to-Market Strategy (GTM) for Growth

About the Data Center Sales & Marketing Institute (DCSMI) and How It Empowers Go-to-Market Teams at Wholesale Data Center Providers

If you’re part of a go-to-market team for a wholesale data center provider, you play a pivotal role in the success of your data center-related business.

You and your colleagues ensure that products and services meet customer needs, get effectively promoted, and generate revenue in a competitive market.

Your team uses a combination of market research, strategic planning, collaboration, and customer-centricity to achieve its goals.

The Data Center Sales & Marketing Institute (DCSMI) is a boutique business advisory, consulting, and training firm for data center providers as well as IT, facilities, and sales and marketing companies that partner with data center providers.

DCSMI understands the unique go-to-market challenges and opportunities that GTM teams face in the rapidly evolving data center marketplace, and we're here to help you excel.

Welcome to DCSMI, your strategic partner in navigating the complex world of data center go-to-market strategy and the role of GTM teams.