South Africa's IT landscape is home to many legacy data centres, especially in financial services. These facilities, built in a different era of technology, have become relics that businesses are clinging to—often at great risk. With outdated power systems, inefficient cooling, and poor white space practices, these data centres are living on borrowed time. The result? A disturbing frequency of major incidents that disrupt business operations, erode trust, and drain resources.

It’s time for these businesses to reconsider their approach. Moving infrastructure to modern co-location facilities is not just a trend—it’s a necessity for survival in an increasingly competitive and digitally reliant world.

The State of Older Data Centres

Dated Infrastructure

Many older data centres were designed to handle the needs of the 1990s or early 2000s. Back then:

Power requirements were significantly lower.
Cooling systems were rudimentary, relying on inefficient air conditioners instead of advanced precision cooling.
Redundancy standards were minimal or nonexistent.

Today, these systems struggle to cope with the demands of high-density computing, leading to frequent failures.

White Space Chaos

The white space—the area where servers and IT equipment are housed—often suffers from poor practices in these legacy facilities:

Bad Rack Deployment: Racks are poorly aligned, leading to inefficient airflow. Hot and cold aisles are often neglected, causing thermal hotspots.
Cable Management: Spaghetti-like cabling obstructs airflow, complicates troubleshooting, and increases fire hazards.
Overcrowding: Limited space leads to overpacking racks, further straining cooling systems.

Living on Hope and a Prayer

Many businesses operating these facilities are gambling with uptime. Instead of investing in modernization, they rely on luck, patchwork solutions, and outdated maintenance routines. The result?

An unacceptable rate of major incidents, including outages, overheating, and equipment failure.
Operational inefficiencies that drain IT budgets and reduce productivity.

The Risks of Sticking with Legacy Data Centres

Increased Downtime
Aging infrastructure is a ticking time bomb. A single point of failure—be it a power surge or an air conditioning malfunction—can bring operations to a halt.
Higher Operational Costs
Older facilities are energy hogs. Inefficient cooling and power systems drive up utility bills, while reactive maintenance eats into budgets.
Regulatory Compliance Challenges
With tightening data protection and operational standards, legacy data centres often fail to meet requirements, exposing businesses to legal risks.
Reputation Damage
Frequent outages harm customer trust. In financial services, where reliability is paramount, this can lead to customer churn and lost business.

Why Modern Co-Locations Are the Solution

State-of-the-Art Facilities

Modern co-location facilities are designed to handle the demands of today’s IT infrastructure:

Efficient Cooling: Precision cooling systems ensure optimal temperatures, reducing the risk of overheating.
Redundant Power: Dual power feeds, UPS systems, and backup generators provide unparalleled reliability.
Advanced Security: Physical and logical security measures protect data and infrastructure from threats.

Cost Efficiency

By moving to co-location facilities, businesses can:

Share infrastructure costs with other tenants, reducing capital expenditure.
Benefit from economies of scale, especially in power and cooling efficiency.

Reduced Risk

With better infrastructure and professional management, co-location facilities minimise the risk of outages and incidents. They are staffed by experts who proactively maintain systems, ensuring uptime.

Scalability and Flexibility

Co-locations allow businesses to scale their IT needs up or down as required, providing flexibility without the need for costly infrastructure upgrades.

Making the Move to Co-Locations

Transitioning to a co-location facility requires careful planning but yields immense benefits:

Assessment: Audit the current data centre to identify risks and inefficiencies.
Strategy: Develop a migration plan, prioritising critical systems.
Execution: Partner with a reputable co-location provider for a seamless transition.
Optimisation: Use the move as an opportunity to modernise IT infrastructure and adopt best practices.

Wrap

The era of legacy data centres is over. Businesses clinging to outdated facilities are playing a dangerous game, one that risks not just their operations but their reputation. Modern co-location facilities offer a path forward—a way to reduce risk, improve efficiency, and future-proof IT infrastructure.

The question isn’t whether businesses can afford to move—it’s whether they can afford not to.

🇿🇦 The Problem with Legacy Data Centres in South Africa | Time for an Upgrade ⏱️