Imagine working with a data center and hyperscale provider that helps you get up and running with all the right services and infrastructure components in just 41 days. As in delivering the entire ecosystem, serving users, and delivering applications — all in less than two months.
This is the story of RagingWire and Groupon.
It’s worthwhile to note that as more users connect to the cloud, organizations will find new ways to deliver services and offerings via a cloud solution. Cloud computing is an ever-changing, highly dynamic platform. This is why it’s critical to work with a data center partner that can take you to the cloud – or get you there in a hybrid fashion. Gartner recently pointed out that more than $1 trillion in IT spending will be directly or indirectly affected by the shift to cloud during the next five years. The market for cloud services continues to grow, say analysts, making cloud computing one of the most disruptive forces of IT spending today.
At the heart of any organization’s IT infrastructure is a data center that is capable of scaling with the needs of the business. However, not all data centers are created equal. Furthermore, not every data center can customize a solution to best fit an organization’s IT needs. And, in many situations, the physical location of the data center can be a make-it or break-it situation for an organization because of costs and inherent location risks. In this white paper from RagingWire, we go on a journey with a high-profile hyperscale cloud company that went through the West Coast data center selection process: Groupon.
Through it, we’ll get a view into the rapidly-growing company’s selection process, considerations, challenges, what the West Coast data center market looks like, and the real value brought by a powerful data center partner.
Northern California – Making the right data center decision
In looking at a Northern California data center, it’s essential to understand the choices that need to be made in selecting the right solution and partner. This guide will take a look at the various components a good data center can provide and how real customers are leveraging these data center resources. This includes power, cooling capacity, physical footprint, facility amenities, and very importantly, location. For example, companies with a sizable footprint in Silicon Valley might look for a data center in the immediate vicinity, but the region is at risk of a seismic event. Locations in Sacramento, on the other hand, can still get you the data center you need close enough to the bay area in a no-earthquake zone.
Here’s the other truth: data center deployments in the West Coast area continue to increase at a staggering pace. A recent report from JLL Research shows how new initiatives are pushing demand for space through the roof in many North American markets, causing demand to spread out across both primary and secondary markets alike.
For the data center and cloud professional, the decision process is now more extensive than ever before. And, a big part of that selection process when looking at West Coast data centers is to work with a partner who has available space and power and can help you reduce costs and offset risks while delivering superior onsite operations and customer service. That is why it’s critical to understand the selection process, and see where real-world use-cases impact true business results. Check out the white paper to get the details on modern selection criteria and which considerations are critical for you to make the right decision.
For an organization such as Groupon, it revolved around service, delivery, and a good partnership.
Groupon – A Case-Study
As a growing organization, Groupon knew that it needed to partner with the right type of data center provider to align technology strategies with their evolving business goals. Their provider needed to be customer-focused, with capabilities around scale, security, agility, and support. So – why did they go with RagingWire?
- Needed to stay on the west coast
- Latency was a big concern – and RagingWire was able to overcome that
- Cost of power, rent, and the proximity to the Bay Area
- Carrier-neutrality
- Having access to multiple, industry-leading carriers and cloud providers
By leveraging the right type of data center partner, Groupon was able to go from deployment to service delivery in an incredibly short amount of time. RagingWire was able to provide the right service and infrastructure that allowed Groupon to set up their entire ecosystem in 41 days – as in serving users and delivering application.
“As a company that’s seen incredible growth throughout our seven-year history, it was important for us to find a wholesale data center provider that could meet our requirements for scalability, customizable high-density power, cooling containment, ISP neutrality and physical security,” said Groupon’s Director of Global Data Center Operations, Harmail Chatha. “RagingWire provided us with exactly what we needed in a timely and efficient manner, helping to ensure that we are able to support our increased traffic demands as our business grows.”
Download this whitepaper to learn about the data center selection process, the research that Groupon did to select their data center partner, and why hyperscale platforms are the foundation for your business and the future cloud model.