Three years after COVID, organizations have adjusted to a new reality. Many workplaces are now hybrid. Some employees work remotely all the time while others come to the office several times a week but not every day. Moving IT systems out of an office to a third-party data center is known as colocation. Colocation can make it easier to transition to a hybrid workplace by uncoupling IT from the office place.
The signs of a changing working world are everywhere. Office vacancy rates remain high, and many companies are either not renewing their leases or downsizing. A recent Wallet Hub survey found 12.7% of full-time employees work from home all the time with an additional 28.2% adopting a hybrid schedule where they work sometime at their company’s office and the rest of the time at home.
Hybrid Workplaces Are Here to Stay
Experts believe this condition will persist as many employees enjoy the benefits of working from home. They save time and money by not commuting. Some multitask to complete personal tasks during the day while conducting work from home. The imperative to work from home during COVID proved that remote work can be done productively. Though some companies have ordered employees to return full-time, many have accepted a hybrid model. Employees in many industries have come to expect they will be able to work from home at least a few days a week.
Nationwide, the top 5 industries employing remote work are information technology, healthcare, sales, account management, and consulting. These industries are prevalent in Connecticut. Our state is home to many financial service companies that have adopted hybrid work practices too.
Relocating to a new office requires a lot of planning. Leases must be negotiated and signed, improvements may be required at the new office, and furnishings and IT systems must be moved. The timing of a move can be challenging. It may be necessary to vacate the old office before the new office is completed and ready for occupancy.
Colocation Decouples IT From The Rest of the Move
Moving to a new office or downsizing an existing office can disrupt critical information technology functions. Relocating these systems in advance to a colocation data center decouples the IT move from the rest of the move. The organization’s computers can be moved after hours in an orderly manner before the rest of the office relocates. This ensures business continuity and significantly reduces stress on the IT department. Once the systems are moved to a colocation data center, the organization can make future office changes without impacting their information technology systems.
Several new colocation clients have come to our data center in Shelton to facilitate changes they are making to support their hybrid workplaces. One client closed an office in Hartford and relocated employees to the remaining office in Fairfield County while moving servers and associated systems to our data center. Another client, a consulting company in Stamford, closed its offices and had all employees work from home after moving its IT systems to CAPS. Another is about to close its Norwalk office after collocating its IT systems to CAPS. Its employees will either work from home or a few days a week from another office in the state.
The new hybrid workplace saves money and increases worker satisfaction. A growing number of companies in Connecticut are leveraging colocation to provide the flexibility they need to make changes to their offices without compromising business continuity
