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  1. #1

    Industry Experts Needed

    Hi,

    I am hoping some of you may be able to help, as I am no expert to the industry. I have been tasked to put together a presentation on the colocation market: market drivers, top initiatives, financials (i.e. why so many companies are operating in the red), etc.

    Any insight into this industry would be appreciated. Thank you all for your time, and forth coming replies.

  2. #2
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    Just curious, but who's operating in the red? And moreover, what's their problem? From where I'm sitting everything has a bit of a green haze..

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  3. #3
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    If you're not an expert, why are you being tasked to present that information? Are you getting paid for this job?

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  4. #4
    Hi again,

    No I am not an expert but at the same time I am not trying to put together an expert presentation. I guess my subject was a bit misleading, so I apologize.

    I am really just looking for an overview of the industry and market in general. I have done a lot of research on theWHIR, Tier 1 Research, Data Center Knowledge, etc. and I thought hearing from people that are in the industry would also be beneficial.

    To answer your question tical, there are quite a few companies I have looked at that operate in the red, such as Equinix and Level 3 Communications. I was just curious if this was typical in the industry...

    Thanks again for both of your input.

  5. #5
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    Level3 is a telecom company, not so much a co-location provider.
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  6. #6
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    When you say operating in the red do you mean consistently in the red? It's normal for companies to operate at a loss during phases of growth and expansion as they make payments on debts used to finance construction and large asset purchases.
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  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by aearthwo View Post
    To answer your question tical, there are quite a few companies I have looked at that operate in the red, such as Equinix and Level 3 Communications. I was just curious if this was typical in the industry...
    Those are large, publically traded companies. It is not uncommon for companies of that size to operate at a loss in order to expand quickly. I think you'll find that most of private players in the industry are making a profit.
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  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by bqinternet View Post
    Those are large, publically traded companies. It is not uncommon for companies of that size to operate at a loss in order to expand quickly. I think you'll find that most of private players in the industry are making a profit.
    That was the essence of what I was saying.

    It should be pretty obvious to the casual onlooker why Level 3 is in the red. They went on a massive buying spree in 2005 and 2006 to "stay on top," at the expense of not posting a profit - a fairly reasonable trade-off in telecom it seems. Getting to the heart of the matter though, the reason why carriers, in general, are not profitable is that they hire too many stupid people and too many of them. Look at (3)'s balance sheet in the latest 10Q and you'll know exactly what I mean.

    As for Equinix, they're not in the red for the three months ended June 30 2007.

    Now selling BigVPS's!
    Jacksonville Colocation and dedicated servers by colo4jax
    We are *not* a reseller. We own our servers, switches, routers and racks.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    May 2004
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    Soo is anyone going to bite and provide this fine person with some help?

    aearthwo,

    I suggest that you ask for people who would be willing to answer a questionnaire in exchange for getting the results of the research. I am sure that any smart operator would like to gain more insight about the market.

    You would need to really be fairly general and not ask any questions that would be able to provide competitive advantage and also sign something to indicate you are not doing it for your own foray into the market. I also suggest that you try to get some answers from potential or current customers and a few suppliers (coincidentally like Level3). A 360 degree view of the market should help.

    I get these type of questions all the time in the enterprise marketspace on many topics.
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  10. #10
    Thank you all for your input, I appreciate everyone's help!


    Thanks for the advice CoolRaul. Unfortunately, I am a bit limited on time to put together the questionnaire as I am giving this presentation on Thursday. Good idea though! =)

    I have gathered a lot of info through my research so I think I should be all set for now. Thanks again to all!

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