YellowFolder, a large supplier of digital file cabinet services to K-12 schools in the U.S., has moved its IT infrastructure from a virtual cloud-based storage solution to a colocation data center. According to YellowFolder, this is saving them nearly a million dollars in service costs per year.
YellowFolder is a software-as-a-service provider of digital file cabinets for school systems to safely store, retrieve and manage all student records. With online access to the YellowFolder digital file cabinet, schools maintain a cumulative folder for every student (active and archived) and store, retrieve and manage all of the documents in one place. YellowFolder automatically manages the student record from the day it is created until the day it is destroyed pursuant to state retention regulations.
Carrier-1 was selected by YellowFolder as the colocation provider to house their IT infrastructure. Carrier-1 owns and operates a 106,866-square-foot, fault-tolerant, wholesale colocation data center in Dallas, Texas.
“We outgrew the cloud,” said Ryan Bell, CTO of YellowFolder. “In the beginning, it was a fast and cost-efficient way to get started. However, we grew quickly and with all of our data storage requirements, the cost became a burden. Our colocation solution with Carrier-1 saves us more than $80,000 per month. The colocation solution did require us to purchase our own hardware. We will quickly recoup this capital expense within the first year of our long-term colocation solution.”
Carrier-1
In addition to the cost savings, a colocation solution would also provide additional control on a private server architecture, adherence to compliance standards and hands-on access if needed. YellowFolder arranged with Carrier-1 for the colocation data center space, power and network to be provisioned. Carrier-1 prepped the racks before the scheduled migration and YellowFolder ordered all of their Dell and Cisco hardware to be shipped directly to Carrier-1, which was stored in a locked, secure location until they arrived to configure their systems.
“We help our clients achieve their goals, whether it is cost savings or a higher-level of control and security,” said Peter Pathos, CEO of Carrier-1. “For YellowFolder, we know that our core environmental systems, network redundancies, operational efficiencies, local support and security protocols were important features to help them meet their goals – a more secure and reliable document storage solution for school districts.”
