Small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) have an advantage that large corporations have lost: they can move and adapt quickly. Product launches, new idea development, customer service—everything can run faster in SMBs because of a shorter chain of approval and less corporate inertia.
However, it’s not all rosy. Due to a lack of dedicated departments for each business process, SMBs often end up pulling the short straw in many areas. Take the IT activities, for example.
As an SMB, it’s hard to research the best options for storage, hosting, and internet connection, especially when you have a small IT department. This is how most small businesses in the Iowa area end up with ISP contracts where they have very few choices about the services they get and what they pay for them.
ISP contracts are riddled with small print hazards. And because most ISPs have a sort of monopoly in the areas they operate in, these small-print hazards turn into vendor lock-ins. While it may seem easier to go to the nearest ISP and sign a contract with them just so you can get your business up and running, it’s actually not. And it’s not the best or the cheapest option either.
SMBs also don’t have the budget—or the need—to build their own data centers. And the cloud can be difficult to navigate and be full of hidden costs.
Luckily, there are technology options other than working with an ISP, hosting in the cloud, or managing on-prem data storage.
Meet Heartland Technology Data Center (HTDC), the technology partner in Iowa—close to Waterloo and Cedar Falls—that cares about the unique needs of your company. For SMBs, HTDC offers two core services.
Colocation for Small Businesses
The colocation market is booming, and it’s predicted to reach $19 billion by 2024. This is not a surprise. Colocation is the ideal solution for companies that want flexible digital asset storage without breaking the bank.
Briefly put, when you opt for colocation, you will have your servers and your hardware hosted in a third-party data center. How does this help you, you ask?
Well, first off, you don’t have to incur the huge expenses that building a data center or managing on-premises hosting comes with. Better yet, you don’t have to worry about maintenance and security either. At HDTC, for instance, we have a team of experts to make sure security is top-notch and that everything in the data center is in ideal working condition.
Colocation offers complete flexibility—you can scale up or down whenever you need to. There are no hidden clauses and nothing to force you to rent the space you don’t actually use.
In other words, colocation beats on-prem hosting. It’s also a better option for many SMBs compared to storing your data in the cloud. Cloud hosting is self-service and can be hard to navigate, making it cumbersome for SMBs to keep up on how to optimize cloud usage to avoid overpaying. You can read more about what cloud storage really costs you here.
Want to know more about how colocation differs from cloud hosting? Read our side-by-side guide and make an informed decision.
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With colocation, you still own the equipment, so you have full control over it. Since HDTC is conveniently located in Iowa, you can drive to our data centers and pick up your hard drives if you need quick access to your data—even after power outages caused by derechos or other extreme events.
Don’t have the expertise to choose and manage your hardware? No worries! We have partners that specialize in that part of the colocation journey.
Lastly, you are not locked in in any way. At HDTC, we want to offer our customers all the flexibility they need to be able to grow their business and IT needs. You pay only for as much as you use, and there are no hidden costs or fine print hazards.
Want to streamline your business even more? Pair colocation and private fiber.
Private Fiber Network for Better Speeds and Extra Security
Private fiber networks used to be very expensive—so expensive that only large corporations could afford them.
Thankfully, those days are past us. Today, even small companies can get:
- Better security because you don’t share your connection with your neighbours or other businesses, which makes private fiber networks ideal for companies in finance, healthcare, and other heavily regulated industries.
- Better speeds—your connection is solely yours.
- Excellent uptime (HTDC has earned our SOC 2 certification and we’re a Tier III ( with Tier IV power) facility.
- More affordable internet connection—yes private fiber networks have lower costs than being stuck in a contract with the wrong ISP.
You can read more about the benefits of private fiber networks for Iowa businesses here.
When you pair private fiber with colocation from HTDC, your business has essentially a direct line to your data in our data center. You can access your digital assets quickly, securely, and with reliability.
Why Work with the Heartland Technology Data Center for Your Connectivity and Storage Needs
We’ve been a service provider for more than 100 years. Needless to say, a lot has changed in technology in the last century. But one thing has remained the same: our mission to help Iowa communities and SMBs thrive.
Our packages are designed with flexibility in mind because we know the unique needs of SMBs in Iowa. From security to maintenance, we can take care of everything, so you have the time to focus on what really matters: growing your business.
If you choose to work with us for both colocation and private fiber network installation, you benefit from a streamlined service, unparalleled uptime, excellent security, and easy access to your data and your servers.
Are you an SMB in Iowa? Let’s talk about your company’s data and connectivity needs.