Why NYC Companies Use An Independent Colocation Advisor
Most mid-market companies contact data centers directly. Most of them overpay. Here’s exactly why — and what the alternative looks like.
When You Call a Data Center Directly —
Here's What's Actually Happening
The moment you reach out to a colocation provider directly — a sales process starts. And it’s not designed to get you the best deal. It’s designed to close a contract at the highest price the market will bear.
That’s not a criticism. It’s just business. Their sales team is professional, knowledgeable, and very good at what they do. What they do is maximize revenue from every customer.
Here’s what they know that you don’t:
They know the current vacancy rate in every facility.
If a building is 95% full they have no incentive to negotiate. If it's 70% full they'll deal — but they'll never tell you that.
They know what every other company in your situation is paying.
You're negotiating in the dark while they have complete market visibility.
They know which contract terms are genuinely fixed and which ones have flex.
Minimum commitments, escalation clauses, early termination fees — experienced sales teams know exactly where the give is.
They know your alternatives better than you do.
If you're not aware that three other facilities could serve your needs just as well they have no competition in the room.
Information asymmetry is the data center industry’s most profitable feature.
Most NYC colocation contracts are
above market rate.
The companies overpaying didn’t make bad decisions. They made uninformed ones. They negotiated without market data, without benchmarks, and without someone in their corner who knew the difference.
What Metro Colo Advisory Does — And Why It Changes Everything
An independent colocation broker sits on your side of the table. Not the provider’s side. Yours.
Here’s what that looks like in practice:
We bring market intelligence you can't get anywhere else.
We know what comparable companies in the NYC market are actually paying right now — not list price, not the rate on the provider's website, but real contracted rates. That benchmark is worth thousands of dollars in negotiating leverage before the first conversation even starts.
We create competition for your business.
When three providers know they're competing for your contract the dynamic changes completely. Terms get better. Pricing gets sharper. Providers who had no incentive to negotiate suddenly find flexibility they didn't have before.
We know what's actually negotiable.
Because understanding NYC market contract structures is the entire foundation of what we do. You'd never know to ask.
We stay with you through signing.
We review the contract before you sign it. We flag terms that are above market or unfavorable. We make sure what you were quoted is what ends up in the contract. This alone has saved clients from significant surprises.
We cost you nothing.
Our commission is paid by the provider you choose as a standard part of their channel partner program. It has existed in your contract all along whether you used a broker or not. Going direct doesn't save you money — it just means the provider keeps both sides of the commission.
"If The Broker Gets A Commission
Doesn't That Mean I Pay More?"
This is the most common question we get. And the answer is no — and here’s exactly why.
Every major colocation provider — Equinix, Digital Realty, CoreSite, DataBank — builds broker commissions into their standard pricing model. It’s a line item in their cost structure, not an add-on to your contract.
When you go direct the provider’s pricing doesn’t change. The commission budget that would have gone to a broker simply stays with the provider as additional margin.
You paid for it either way. Going direct just means you gave the provider a windfall instead of getting an advisor in your corner.
Think of it exactly like commercial real estate. A company leasing office space pays the same rent whether they used a tenant rep broker or not. The landlord builds broker commissions into their model.
Companies that use tenant rep brokers get better deals — because they had someone who knew the market negotiating for them — at no additional cost.
Colocation works identically.
Five Things You Get With Metro Colo Advisory That You Can't Get Going Direct
Real Market Pricing
We know what comparable companies in the NYC market are actually paying right now — not list price, not the rate on the provider's website, but real contracted rates. That benchmark is worth thousands of dollars in negotiating leverage before the first conversation even starts.
Genuine Competition
When multiple providers know you're evaluating options simultaneously the pricing and terms improve dramatically. Creating that competitive dynamic is something only a broker can do efficiently — without you spending weeks managing three separate sales processes.
Contract Intelligence
Every colo contract has landmines — auto-renewal clauses that lock you in, escalation rates that compound painfully, power minimums that don't match your actual usage. We know NYC colo contracts inside and out. We know exactly where to look
A Relationship That Compounds
Your first deal with us is the start of an ongoing advisory relationship. When your contract comes up for renewal — typically in 3-5 years — we're already there with current market data, ready to make sure you renew at market rate or find a better option. Clients who get the right deal the first time come back when renewal arrives. That is the relationship we are building from day one.
Time Back
Managing a colocation procurement from scratch — researching facilities, scheduling tours, collecting proposals, comparing terms — takes weeks of your IT team's time. We compress that to a single conversation and a 72-hour turnaround on curated options. Your team focuses on your business. We handle the infrastructure search.
So Why Would Anyone Go Direct?
Honestly? Usually because they didn’t know this service existed.
The colocation broker model is well established in the industry — every major provider has a formal channel partner program specifically for brokers — but it’s almost never marketed to the end buyer. Providers don’t advertise it because their direct sales motion works well for them. Brokers historically operated through relationship networks not digital channels.
Metro Colo Advisory was built specifically to change that.
To be the resource that NYC mid-market companies find when they start researching infrastructure options — so that going direct is a choice, not a default.
Now that you know this service exists — and that it costs you nothing — the question isn’t whether to use a broker. The question is which broker knows the NYC market well enough to be worth your time.
We’d like to make that case in a 20-minute conversation.
See What an Independent Advisor Finds For Your Situation
Fill out our free assessment and we’ll come back within 72 hours with current NYC market pricing for your specific requirements — with honest recommendations and no obligation.
No cost. No sales pressure. No obligation.
Just honest information from NYC’s only independent colocation advisor.
