Data Center CapEx and SaaS

eWeek Editor in Chief Eric Lindquist notes the huge capital spending on data centers by Google and Microsoft, and wonders what it will mean for SaaS (Software as a Service). Eric advises companies shopping for SaaS hosting to consider their provider’s ability to manage its ongoing data center investments.

Technology executives will have to learn what steel mill executives discovered long ago: Capital investment is not a one-time event. That server farm you built last year will soon require another big round of investment to stay current and efficient. For the customer looking at a SAAS provider, all this will mean a new question in the request for proposal. In addition to understanding a vendor’s strategic product direction, you will want to know the vendor’s capital spending plans and how those plans will provide you with the service you expect at a cost the vendor can provide

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About Rich Miller

Rich Miller is the founder and editor-in-chief of Data Center Knowledge, and has been reporting on the data center sector since 2000. He has tracked the growing impact of high-density computing on the power and cooling of data centers, and the resulting push for improved energy efficiency in these facilities.