Colocation as strategic foundation for hybrid and edge-ready IT - Friso Haringsma, CEO of DCU
In today's rapidly changing digital world, flexibility, speed and resilience are essential to any modern IT strategy. As companies move to hybrid models that combine on-premise, colocation, private and public cloud, colocation is no longer seen as an option, but as a critical pillar within the digital infrastructure.
Hybrid IT is here to stay
Hybrid IT allows organizations to strategically distribute workloads across different environments, tailored to their specific needs - whether for latency, compliance, performance or scalability. This flexibility is no longer a luxury: it is a necessity. Hybrid IT is not a temporary interim solution - it is the business model of the future.
Why colocation is critical
Colocation offers businesses the best of both worlds: physical control over their infrastructure and direct access to large-scale connectivity and cloud ecosystems - without the operational burden of an in-house data center. It acts as a strategic hub between cloud and edge environments, enabling secure, high-performance digital operations.
Supporting the rise of edge computing
At DCU, we are investing heavily in regional edge locations and micro data centers to bring infrastructure closer to users and applications. These facilities are designed for latency-sensitive applications in sectors such as manufacturing, logistics and healthcare - from real-time AI in manufacturing environments to secure medical imaging and live monitoring of supply chains.
Enabling Seamless Hybrid Integration
Our customers rely on solutions such as SD-WAN, direct cloud connections and our proprietary DCU Connect platform to seamlessly connect colocation infrastructure to both private and public cloud environments. The result is a unified, powerful and secure hybrid network that is ready to scale and adapt.
Compliance driving colocation
With increasing regulations - especially from frameworks such as GDPR and NIS2 - data transparency and sovereignty are becoming increasingly important. At DCU, we not only provide compliant facilities, but actively support customers during audits, with documentation and consulting services. This is how we help them build an infrastructure in which they can fully trust.
From facility provider to strategic IT partner
Conversations with CIOs and CTOs have changed dramatically. Where we used to talk about power consumption per rack and SLAs, we now talk about digital strategy, AI readiness, data governance and sustainability. At DCU, we are no longer just a hosting provider - we are a strategic IT enabler that helps organizations evolve.
