TL;DR: Colocation providers and MSPs have a unique need for disaggregated, per-customer power monitoring at the rack or server-group level, beyond what standard enterprise data centers require. This granular data supports accurate customer billing, real-time portal reporting, PUE and carbon management, and cross-site visibility. DCIM platforms like Modius OpenData enable co-los to unify monitoring of power and cooling across multi-vendor, multi-site environments and build customer-facing portals with analytics and efficiency baselines.
Why Do Colocation Providers Need Granular Power Monitoring?
At Modius, we are seeing an increasing number of requests from colocation providers (co-los) and Managed Service Providers (MSPs) for more robust and accurate power measurement data. In one sense, this trend is nothing new, because all data centers need accurate power measurement for:
- Capacity optimization
- Energy efficiency
- Uptime assurance
However, co-los and MSPs have a special requirement that takes power reporting to the next level: providing disaggregated energy consumption and power usage data by customer at a very granular level, often by rack or even a group of servers. They typically need detailed power metering for each customer, principally for:
- More accurate customer billing
- Detailed real-time status reporting through a customer portal
What Data Are Colocation Customers Demanding?
Customers now want power data not only to verify billing accuracy, but also to determine their available power capacity, usage trends, and accurate metrics for PUE and carbon management reporting. Some customers face an even greater challenge: they need to unify data across different locations because their footprint spans several buildings.
Theoretically, some of this data can be captured from the servers. With distributed systems management tools, reporting on server energy consumption at the server level is relatively commonplace. But this data source is incomplete. Factoring in cooling and related energy consumption, or adding environmental reporting for bottom, middle, and top of each rack, is considerably more challenging.
What Monitoring Challenges Are Unique to Co-Los?
In general, most co-los do not have access to server instrumentation data at the chassis level. In terms of power and cooling, most colocation providers still struggle to unify a broad range of equipment into a single monitoring fabric and extend that framework across disparate systems and locations.
How Are Leading Co-Los Solving the Monitoring Problem?
Several co-lo operators are taking the initiative by unifying their monitoring of power and cooling equipment with a real-time data center monitoring and measurement system like Modius OpenData. Many are augmenting their data by installing new breaker-level metering and using that data to create centralized customer portals with real-time views of power capacity and consumption. Further, they are adding layers of analytics and baselines on energy efficiency and reliability.
Why Is Enterprise Demand Driving Co-Lo Monitoring Investment?
As the industry becomes more competitive, service providers cannot continue with business as usual. Many co-los and MSPs are investing in DCIM monitoring so they can differentiate their services, gain better visibility into extending internal resources, and provide PUE and carbon reporting to their customers.
The underlying driver behind this trend is that an increasing number of enterprises with large IT departments are being tasked by senior management to provide comprehensive power usage and efficiency reports, regardless of whether the enterprise owns its own data center or outsources part of its infrastructure. 
Whether end-users, co-los, or MSPs, everyone is increasingly looking to software providers like Modius to solve the comprehensive measurement and reporting problem. Modius OpenData is well positioned as the right product at the right time and value for this growing demand.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do colocation providers need more granular monitoring than enterprise data centers?
Co-los must provide disaggregated power consumption data per customer at the rack or server-group level for accurate billing, real-time customer portal reporting, and SLA compliance. Enterprise data centers typically only need aggregate facility-level monitoring.
What monitoring challenges are unique to colocation environments?
Co-los face several unique challenges: they typically lack access to customer server-level instrumentation, they must unify monitoring across diverse multi-vendor equipment, they need to extend monitoring frameworks across multiple geographically distributed buildings, and they must factor in cooling costs per customer.
How does DCIM help colocation providers differentiate their services?
DCIM enables co-los to offer customer self-service portals with real-time power and environmental data, usage-based pricing models, PUE and carbon reporting services, and proactive capacity alerts. These capabilities differentiate providers in an increasingly competitive colocation market.
Can DCIM measure per-customer cooling costs in a colocation?
While server-level power data alone is insufficient, DCIM platforms that integrate with cooling infrastructure and environmental sensors (monitoring top/middle/bottom rack temperatures) can estimate per-customer cooling impact by correlating power consumption with cooling load across the facility.
Why are enterprises demanding more detailed power reporting from co-los?
Senior management at enterprises is increasingly requiring comprehensive power usage and efficiency reporting regardless of whether IT infrastructure is owned or outsourced. This trend is driving co-los and MSPs to implement DCIM solutions that can deliver the granular measurement and reporting their customers now expect.