At our Bisnow's Real Estate Meets the Cloud event last week the event speakers stressed that now's a great time to own and develop co-location facilities, because demand is high, driven by the proliferation of mobile devices. Content has to be somewhere, and instantly accessible to users all the time. There was some discussion, however, about exactly what a colo center is in a modern context. Snapped: TeirPoint SVP Bob Hicks, one of our speakers.

Here, Steel Orca COO Dennis Cronin. It used to be—and the industry really isn't that old—that colo meant providing basic space, power and cooling, our speakers said. That's still the case, but colos have evolved a lot in a short time. Today it's about services more than  space: network services, asset management and more. Also, data security is a major challenge for the industry these days. One way of dealing with the challenges is moving information out to the edge of the network.

Netrality @ 401 North Broad general manager John Diamond. Co-location facilities need flexible building infrastructure to accommodate the ebb and flow of technology footprints and power densities, the speakers noted. Also, for carrier hotels, data transfer costs are shifting away from monthly recurring fees (such as cross connects) in favor of neutral footprints, where property ownership negates cost escalators tied to lease renewals.

Here, event moderator and Real Property Solutions president John Smyth. Why didn't Philly develop as a colo hub until recently? The panelists posited that the recent surge in education and healthcare growth in the region is now a main driver for colos here—but they're industries that tend to lag when it comes to tech, so it didn't happen before. But now they're catching up as major users of colo centers.

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