Build or Buy

RESOURCES

Build Or Buy? The Economics Of Data Center Facilities

by Rachel A. Dines
for Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

a Forrester Report

 

Executive Summary
Data centers are running low on space, power, and cooling. When it comes time to provision new data
center capacity, IT infrastructure and operations (I&O) professionals are faced with the critical decision
to either lease or build. There are use cases for both approaches. Leasing a data center presents an
attractive operational expenditure model, better access to space and power, and the ability to expand
faster. Building a data center provides more control over the facility and its operations and allows
organizations to leverage and share existing space. So what should you do? Forrester’s Total Economic
Impact™ (TEI) analysis finds that building a data center is not economical for most companies. This
report will help infrastructure and operations professionals decide when to lease and when to build a
data center given their unique circumstances.