Managed Service Providers (MSPs) are the unsung heroes in today’s digital economy. They keep IT infrastructures running smoothly while businesses focus on their core operations. From scaling IT capacity to optimizing cloud solutions, MSPs are on the front lines, ensuring their clients stay agile and competitive. But even superheroes need a fortress. And when it comes to providing clients with secure, scalable, and reliable tech infrastructure, colocation is that fortress.

Colocation allows MSPs to tap into data centers designed for growth, performance, and security—without the massive overhead of building and managing their own facilities. Whether you’re handling sensitive data for a healthcare client or scaling IT infrastructure for a fast-growing startup, colocation helps MSPs deliver on the promise of high performance and reliability. It’s the secret weapon for MSPs looking to maintain control, scale rapidly, and offer seamless services to their clients.

The Colocation Edge: What MSPs Stand to Gain

MSPs today are tasked with more than managing IT systems. They help clients navigate digital transformation, migrate from legacy systems, and deploy cutting-edge applications. However, delivering these services requires infrastructure beyond on-prem hardware or all-in cloud solutions. Colocation strikes the perfect balance, giving MSPs the control they need while providing the flexibility and scalability of cloud-like environments.

Here’s why colocation is a game-changer for MSPs:

1. Reliability That’s a Non-Negotiable

In IT, downtime is a four-letter word (okay, maybe you technically need to use synonyms like idle, wait, or lull for this statement to hold true). A few minutes of downtime can result in lost revenue, halted productivity, and damaged customer trust. Public cloud providers promise impressive uptime figures, like 99.99%, but that still means almost an hour of downtime a year. For mission-critical services, that’s a ticking time bomb.

Colocation data centers deliver better performance with industry-leading uptime service-level agreements (SLAs). With a colocation provider, you can expect 99.999% uptime—significantly reducing the risk of outages. And some colocation providers, like Centersquare, offer a 100% uptime service level agreement on power availability. That extra layer of reliability means MSPs can confidently offer their clients stable, always-on infrastructure. It’s peace of mind for both the MSP and the end-user.

2. Security and Compliance on Lockdown

For MSPs handling sensitive data or working with clients in regulated industries, security and compliance aren’t optional. Healthcare, finance, and other sectors demand strict adherence to standards like HIPAA or PCI DSS. Data breaches or non-compliance can lead to severe legal and financial penalties—not to mention the loss of client trust.

Colocation facilities are built with security in mind. From physical safeguards like biometric access and 24/7 surveillance to digital protections like firewalls and encryption, colocation data centers offer a robust security infrastructure. For MSPs, this means an easy way to meet compliance requirements while giving clients confidence in their data’s safety.

3. Workload Flexibility for Any Scenario

When it comes to running applications, milliseconds matter. Whether it's latency issues, processing delays, or bandwidth throttling, poor performance can immediately and negatively impact a business. Hybrid IT environments provide some flexibility, but they’re only as good as the underlying infrastructure supporting them.

Colocation data centers are designed for flexibility. MSPs can position client workloads strategically across multiple locations, optimizing performance with edge computing and minimizing latency. Need to shift resources between colocated infrastructure and cloud environments? Colocation provides the connectivity to ensure workloads can be managed dynamically, wherever they’re most effective. This flexibility ensures that MSPs can offer clients the best possible performance—whether it's for real-time applications or data-heavy tasks.

4. Scalability Without the Headaches

MSPs and their clients both need to stay nimble when scaling IT capacity without blowing up the budget or overextending. Scaling up means more room to onboard new customers and expand services. Meanwhile, clients count on their MSP partners to handle the technical heavy lifting so they can focus on growing their businesses and launching new products.

That’s where colocation data centers come in. They make scaling IT a breeze without the sky-high costs of running a private data center. Whether MSPs are tapping into virtual resources through cloud connections or needing extra network bandwidth during peak seasons, colocation provides the flexibility to grow fast—without hurting the bottom line.

5. New Business Opportunities Around Every Corner

One of the often-overlooked advantages of colocation is the business opportunities it creates. Colocation facilities don’t just house servers—they’re ecosystems of interconnected businesses. For MSPs, this is a chance to network and connect with potential clients who are looking to outsource their IT needs.

MSPs can offer various services in these data center environments—from managing migrations and digital transformation projects to providing ongoing IT support. Since colocation providers typically don’t offer competing services, MSPs have a clear advantage. This setup creates a win-win situation, where the MSP and the colocation facility feed off each other’s success. The payoff? More business opportunities and a growing pool of potential clients to expand your MSP services.

The Future of MSPs is Colocation

As the IT landscape evolves, MSPs need flexible, reliable infrastructure to stay ahead. Colocation is the perfect solution, providing the control and security of private data centers with the flexibility and scalability of the cloud. For MSPs, it’s the key to delivering the services that today’s businesses demand—without getting bogged down by infrastructure management.

This is where Centersquare comes in. With a network of state-of-the-art colocation facilities, we provide the infrastructure MSPs need to thrive. Our data centers are built to scale, with the reliability, security, and performance required to support your clients’ evolving needs. And with access to our ecosystem of over 2,400 potential customers and partners, we offer MSPs more than just infrastructure—we offer growth opportunities.

At Centersquare, we build our infrastructure around your business, so you can grow, adapt, and succeed without worrying about what comes next. Whether you need scalability, connectivity, or go-to-market support, Centersquare has you covered.

Come grow with us. Now is the ideal time to partner with Centersquare. Contact us today to explore how we can be the data center services partner you need to survive and thrive in the digital era.