Aging data centers and why enterprises shouldn’t retrofit them

Data creation, consumption, and the need to store and process it may have no foreseeable end, but a data center facility has a closing date. Data centers can last 20 to 30 years, but its economically productive lifespan often caps at 10-15 years. Too often, enterprises attempt to squeeze as much life out of their data centers as possible despite drawbacks. 

This whitepaper outlines how the degradation of machinery over time impacts data center reliability, yesterday’s technology cannot compete with today’s efficiency, and switching from capital expenses to operating expenses gives way for capital efficiency. Private, aging enterprise data centers cannot compete with the custom control of a modern build-to-suit opportunity, prompting the widespread transition from owning to leasing data centers and supporting the industry consensus that the enterprise data center is dead.