November 24, 2003 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- As the Web hosting marketplace continues to be impacted by a glut of overcapacity and unprofitable businesses, the inclination for large enterprises to migrate their outsourced services to alternative service providers will only continue to grow.
With industry giants such as Cable & Wireless undergoing serious restructuring, which includes its exit from the U.S. Web hosting market due to financial pressure, large enterprise consumers have been transitioning their IT infrastructure to service providers that are fiscally viable.
Hosting consultants have assisted many large corporations in the migration process. One such company is PrimeSourcing Advisors (PrimeSA.com), a leading IT advisory firm that focuses on cutting costs while balancing client's risk and quality of service. The company has migrated over 100 customers ranging from large enterprises to single cabinet users and has de-commissioned over 17 data centers totalling over 1.5 million sq. ft. of data center space.
The firm is expert in mitigating the operational risk and disruption that can occur from data center migration. PrimeSourcing Advisors can quickly migrate IT operations due to: a) its meticulous trademarked planning process and b) its in-depth and multifaceted understanding of all the tasks needed to be completed in order to rapidly shift resources efficiently and effectively.
"In many way we act as a general contractor because we co-ordinate all the multiple projects that are needed to move IT infrastructure into new facilities," states Ed Agar, co-founder and principal of PrimeSourcing Advisors. "Our company works to put together the engineers, the movers, and even the insurance necessary to move our clients quickly and safely."
Under the PrimeSourcing model, a full system is put in place to identify requirements, expectations and project objectives. Under the model, a detailed technical audit is undertaken to establish a sound migration calendar. Once timelines are identified, the company moves forward to implement its detailed transition plan.
According to Agar, the company has three approaches to migration: "cut- over," "segmented" and "forklift."
The "cut-over" model entails the deployment of redundancy equipment at the new destination site to ensure continuous uptime. The old site is then phased out and synchronized with the new destination site.
The "segmented" approach entails the creation of a completely new system in the new hosting environment, which is built from existing and redundant IT elements. While this model has a high level of complexity, it still provides continuous availability.
The final model, known as the "forklift," entails the migration of an entire system at once through complete decommission, transition and then re- commission at a new facility. While the forklift approach has the lowest risk and complexity associated with it, its downside is that it has the longest period of downtime.
PrimeSourcing has intimate knowledge concerning how to implement all the above models due to its experienced staff, many of which have worked as system engineers and architects at the largest, complex Web hosting firms.
"Our goal at PrimeSourcing Advisors is to provide a comprehensive migration service to help our clients reduce the cost and risk. Migrations can be a significant tax on a client's internal IT resource. We complement our client’s IT departments to offer the scalability and skills necessary to secure a flawless migration," states Agar. "Our experts assist clients in mitigating the risk exposure and navigating many of the unexpected problems. PrimeSourcing Advisors can also create and manage the entire migration project plan if required. This migration methodology has been proven in over 175 moves with customers."
One of the advantages of using the advisory is that it is they who attend to logistics, which often can be frustrating to deal with.
"Many hosting transitions can be exasperating. We have participated in migrations where essential equipment such as racks and cabinets were not put in place by the data center before at the appointed time. We had to do the job with only 24-hour notice rather than the week or two we had in mind. Our job is to ensure that the job is done no matter what the contingency. This can only be achieved through strong project management to ensure the work is completed on time, no matter the circumstances," states Agar.
As a project manager, the objective of the advisory is to control and manage the entire process involving all third parties.
Another major factor driving their migration service is the cost savings that firms can obtain. Through PrimeSourcing Advisors’ trademark consulting process, accurate cost estimates can be obtained, saving companies hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"Often enterprises will spend dollars on equipment they do not even need," states Agar. "Our process determines what costs must be incurred before the migration.
Costs related to migrations are usually less than 10 per cent of the first year hosting fees. If the bill is prorated over three years, the migration premium can then be rationalized to 3 per cent annually - a small price according to Agar for improved quality of service or peace of mind.
