The post has been translated automatically. Original language: Russian
How companies in Kazakhstan are losing money on their own server rooms — and what to do about it
Most Kazakhstani medium-sized business companies have one thing in common: somewhere in the office there is a noisy a cabinet with servers that is constantly buzzing, sometimes overheats and requires someone's attention. This is called the "server room". It looks like an asset. In fact, it is often a hidden loss item.
Let's look at why this is so and what to do about it.
What is your server room really worth?
When the head of a company thinks about the costs of IT infrastructure, he usually looks at one line: the cost of server equipment at purchase. But the actual cost of ownership is something else entirely.
Let's be honest.
Capital expenditures (one-time):
• Server equipment: from 3 to 30+ million tenge , depending on the class
• Uninterruptible power supply (UPS): 500 thousand — 2 million tenge
• Air conditioning system (precision): 1-5 million tenge
• Fire alarm system and fire extinguishing system: 500 thousand. - 3 million tenge
• Physical protection, ACS, video surveillance: 300 thousand — 1 million tenge
Total at the start: easily 5-40 million tenge, before at least one server is launched.
Operating expenses (annual):
• Electricity: the server room consumes around the clock, and it's not just the servers themselves — air conditioning adds 30-50% to consumption
• Equipment maintenance: The UPS needs to be replaced batteries every 3-5 years, air conditioners — regular service
• Salary of the system administrator (or his share of employment): from 400 thousand tenge/month. and higher
• Monitoring software licenses
• Replacing failed equipment is not an "if", but a "when"
Hidden losses:
• Downtime due to equipment failures (overheating, power surges, UPS failure)
• Data loss in case of accidents — without professional backup
• Employees' time spent dealing with incidents instead of their main work
• The risk of checks against the requirements of data protection legislation
According to international analysts, the total cost of ownership (TCO) of its own server infrastructure is 3-5 times higher than the initial capital investment over a period of 5 years.
The three most common mistakes
Mistake 1: "We bought the equipment once, we don 't spend any more"
It's an illusion. The equipment becomes obsolete in 3-5 years. New generation processors are 2-3 times more efficient, which means that you are overpaying for electricity and heat dissipation. After 5 years , the company is facing a full upgrade cycle again.
Error 2: "Our system administrator can handle it"
One specialist is physically unable to provide round-the-clock monitoring and incident response. If the server crashes at 3 a.m. on Sunday, how many hours will the business stand? Each hour of downtime has a very specific cost.
Mistake 3: "Data center is expensive, it's for large companies"
This is an outdated myth. Colocation (placement of own equipment in the data center) is currently available to companies with a budget of several tens of thousands of tenge per month. Rent 1U in a professional A data center is cheaper than maintaining your own server room, if you're being honest.
What alternatives are there?
Today, the Kazakh business There are three working models:
1. Colocation
You keep your own hardware, but place it in a professional data center. The provider takes care of the power supply, cooling, physical security and communication channels. You pay for the "units" in the rack. It is ideal for companies that have already invested in equipment and want to reduce risks. Astana and Almaty have several Tier II and Tier III data centers with availability 99.98%+ and certified according to international standards.
2. Rent a dedicated server
The equipment belongs to the provider, you rent it entirely. No capital expenditures, no worries about hardware. It is suitable for companies that do not want to own hardware, but need full control over the software environment.
3. Hybrid model
Part of the infrastructure is located in the data center, part is transferred to the cloud. Critical data is under control, scalable loads are in the cloud. Optimal for medium and large businesses.
What does a business get when moving to a data center?
• Reliability: Professional data centers provide backup power from multiple independent sources, redundant communication channels, fire extinguishing systems, and climate control with redundancy. Uptime at 99.98% is less than 105 minutes of downtime per year.
• Security: physical access via biometrics or cards, 24/7 video surveillance, perimeter security. A regular office server room will not provide this.
• Predictable costs: monthly payment instead of unpredictable capital expenditures and emergency repairs.
• Scalability: the business has grown — additional capacities have been ordered. Without purchasing new equipment, without repairing the server room.
• Focus on business: the IT team deals with the product and services, rather than monitoring the temperature in the server room.
How to make the right decision
Before making a choice, calculate the TCO of your current infrastructure over 5 years, taking into account all items: equipment, electricity, maintenance, personnel, risks of downtime. Compare with the commercial offer from the data center.
In most cases, the result is unexpected: professional placement turns out to be no more expensive — and often cheaper — even without taking into account risk reduction.
Работаю оценщиком более 20 лет. Ко мне часто приходят стартапы с "революционным AI для оценки".
И 8 из 10 умирают на этапе внедрения. Почему?
3 главные ошибки IT-команд:
1. Не знают 223-ФЗ и Стандарты оценки РК. AI классно считает, но без учета НПА РК и требований банков отчет просто не примут. Поэтому IT + оценщик = must have на этапе разработки.
2. Делают для "красиво", а не для "быстро". Оценщику на объекте важнее за 10 сек сфоткать и уйти. А не заполнять 20 полей в приложении.
3. Игнорируют 1С. Весь МСБ в Казахстане сидит на 1С:Оценка. Если нет интеграции = продукт мертв.
Вывод: Хабу нужны мосты. IT + эксперты из реального сектора.
Готов делиться болями сферы бесплатно, чтобы у нас появлялись рабочие продукты.
Коллеги-IT, с какими сферами МСБ у вас не получается зайти?
Обсудим в комментах.
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