Cloud & Infrastructure

IaaS / Colocation

Deploy workloads in dedicated, compliance-certified hosting environments that give you the performance and control of on-premises infrastructure with the flexibility of a managed service.

ColocationManaged HostingHybrid InfrastructureData CenterCarrier-Neutral
What is IaaS / Colocation?

Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) provides organizations with virtualized compute, storage, and networking resources on demand — without the capital cost of owning physical hardware. Unlike public cloud, dedicated IaaS provides single-tenant environments where resources are not shared with other organizations, delivering predictable performance for workloads that cannot tolerate the variability of shared public cloud environments.

Colocation (colo) refers to placing organization-owned servers and networking equipment in a third-party data center facility. Colo providers supply the physical space, power, cooling, and physical security — while the organization maintains ownership and control of the equipment. Carrier-neutral colocation facilities like Equinix and Flexential provide direct access to hundreds of network providers and cloud on-ramps, making them strategic interconnection hubs for hybrid infrastructure.

For organizations navigating the decision between public cloud, private IaaS, and colocation, the right answer is rarely one or the other. Hybrid infrastructure strategies — combining public cloud for elastic workloads, dedicated IaaS for performance-sensitive applications, and colocation for strategic interconnection — deliver the best balance of cost, performance, and control.

Market Snapshot
$90B
Global colocation market by 2027 as data center demand outpaces supply
Atlanta
Top 5 US colocation market — Able Advising's home market with deep local expertise
18+ mo
Lead time for new data center capacity in constrained markets (Uptime Institute)
Common Use Cases

Compliance-Driven Hosting

Host sensitive workloads in SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, and PCI-DSS certified data center environments with independent audit trails.

Data Sovereignty

Maintain physical control and geographic specificity for data that cannot be stored in shared cloud environments due to regulatory requirements.

Disaster Recovery Colocation

Establish a geographically separated secondary site with dedicated infrastructure for business continuity and disaster recovery.

Cloud Direct Connect Hub

Use carrier-neutral colo facilities as an interconnection point for private connectivity to AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and network providers.

Data Center Exit Strategy

Migrate from aging company-owned data centers to colocation as leases expire, hardware ages out, or facilities become cost-inefficient to operate.

Edge Compute Deployment

Deploy compute at the network edge in carrier-neutral facilities for latency-sensitive applications that cannot tolerate centralized cloud round trips.

Industry News & Trends
Data Center Dynamics
Equinix reports record colocation demand as AI GPU clusters and cloud interconnect requirements drive data center capacity to new highs
2025
CRN
Flexential and QTS expand Atlanta and Southeast footprint as the region emerges as a top-tier US colocation and cloud interconnect market
2025
Uptime Institute
Colocation demand outpaces supply in major metros — enterprises advised to secure capacity 18 months in advance as lead times extend
2025
Data Economy
Hybrid infrastructure strategy gains traction as unexpected cloud cost escalation pushes enterprises to evaluate colocation alternatives
2025

Ready to explore IaaS / Colocation?

Our advisors will assess your current environment, identify the right supplier fit, and manage the entire procurement and onboarding process — at no cost to you.