Making Your Data Center Selection: The Whens, Whys, and Hows

1WEBINAR
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Making Your Data Center Selection: The When, Why, and How
Making Your
Data Center
Selection: The
When, Why, and
How
Ryan Gould, KSMC
Director of Business
Technology
Doug Theis, Expedient
Director of Market Strategy

2WEBINAR
Meet the Speakers
RYAN GOULD
Director of Business Technology
KSM Consulting
KSM Consulting is a technology, data, and
management consulting firm. Technology
services and expertise include:
• CIO Services
• IT Managed Services
• Cloud and Datacenter Migrations
• Infrastructure and Network Services
• Office Expansion and Move Planning
DOUG THEIS
Director of Market Strategy
Expedient
Expedient combines data centers, network
access and managed services to deliver
information technology infrastructure as a
service (IaaS) solutions. Services and
technology expertise include:
• Infrastructure as a Service: Colocation,
Connectivity, Enterprise Cloud
• Managed Services: Backup, Compliance
and Security, Disaster Recovery, Network
Access, Storage

3WEBINAR
Agenda
What is a Data center (DC)
When and Why to move your DC
1.
WEBINAR
2.
4. How to make it all happen
5. Client Story:
Katz, Sapper & Miller
6. Questions
3. Selection Criteria

4WEBINAR
What is a data center?

5WEBINAR
What is a Data Center?
A data center is a facility that centralizes an organization’s
IT operations and equipment, as well as where it stores,
manages, and disseminates its data. Data centers house a
network’s most critical systems and are vital to the
continuity of daily operations.

6WEBINAR
When and Why to move your
data center

7WEBINAR
Considerations for When or Why to Move your Data Center
Infrastructure End of Life
Or Hardware Refresh
Business Risks
Have Changed
Change in
Business Size
Investment (Capital Expense
Vs. Operating Expense)
High Availability and
Continuity Needs
Compliance
Requirements

8WEBINAR
What to look for in a data center

9WEBINAR
What to Look for in a Data Center
High Availability
Locations and Connectivity
Continuum of Services
Team Qualifications
Security and Compliance
Financial Considerations

10WEBINAR
How to make it all happen

11WEBINAR
How to Prepare
Decide what
to move
Create a
comprehensive
plan
Move
Test,
Audit,
Document
Determine a
team and
appoint (or
hire) a project
manager
“The man who is prepared has his
battle half fought ~ Miguel De
Cervantes

12WEBINAR
Data Center Migration Readiness
Applications Business Needs Infrastructure
• Identify all business
Applications
• What type of
databases exist?
• Where does the data
live?
• App/Dev plans
planned?
• Where do your
employees primarily
work?
• Downtime and
recovery needs
• Growth plans
• Acquisition plans
• Network health and
maturity
• NextGen network in
place?
• ISP contracts in place
• Current hardware
lifecycle

13WEBINAR
Client Story:
Katz, Sapper & Miller’s Move to
the Expedient Data Center

14WEBINAR
Background
76-year old accounting firm
400+ employees nationwide
Office Locations:
Indianapolis, IN
Fort Wayne, IN
New York
Oklahoma
Operational Considerations:
Seasonal business requiring maximum uptime
Need for high-levels of security
Service firm with need for high performance

15WEBINAR
Challenge
Key Decision Factors:
• Infrastructure was end-of-life and needed
to be replaced
• Growth of the organization has increased
its presence outside of the Indianapolis
headquarters
• Needed a solution with high uptime and
less risk
• Wanted to focus internal employees on
digital transformation rather than server
management

16WEBINAR
Solution
Process and Details:
• Find the right team: KSMC
• Assess the environment and research
options: 4 month assessment
• Created a roadmap and detailed plan:
2 months of planning
• Moved the Datacenter
• Performed tons of testing and
documented systems for long term
support

17WEBINAR
Solution
Solution:
• Move to the
Expedient Data Center in Indianapolis
with a back-up location in Memphis
• KSMC managed the migration
Reasoning:
• Proximity
• Cost
• Security and Stability
• Resources and Tools

18WEBINAR
Solution
Results:
“We’re completely satisfied with our decision.
Expedient’s customer support is top notch. Their
response times are amazing, and the support
team has been great at establishing and
maintaining a relationship with us. The lines of
communication are open, and we feel Expedient
keeps us well-informed.”

19WEBINAR
Summary

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Making Your Data Center Selection: The When, Why, and How 20
Ryan’s Big Takeaways
1 2
Have a comprehensive
and detailed plan!
(And make it early!)
Connectivity is key. To
make the move, you
need a solid network
infrastructure.
Learn more about solid network infrastructure in our
webinar: The Importance of a Next-Gen Network.

21WEBINAR
Making Your Data Center Selection: The When, Why, and How 21
Doug’s Big Takeaways
1 2 3
Cost alone is a
risky decision
point.
Consider the
business case of
the company in
your decision.
Get help!
Have someone
help evaluate
the minutia and
business case
of the
environment.

Making Your Data Center Selection: The Whens, Whys, and Hows

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