What should be included in a colocation RFP?

A colocation RFP should include: company and workload overview, space requirements (cabinets, cage, expansion), power requirements (kW, density, redundancy), cooling requirements, connectivity (carriers, cloud on-ramps, cross-connects), SLA terms, compliance certifications, pricing breakdown, and contract terms (escalator, renewal, termination).

How many providers should I send my colocation RFP to?

Send to at least 3-5 providers in your target market. This gives you competitive tension and enough proposals to normalize TCO across providers. Too few limits leverage; too many dilutes evaluation focus.

What SLA terms should I include in a colocation RFP?

Include power and cooling uptime SLAs with measurement methods, maintenance window policies, SLA credit calculations, chronic outage termination rights, and incident response/RCA requirements. Specify these in your RFP so providers respond to your terms, not their defaults.

How do I evaluate colocation RFP responses?

Normalize all responses to $ / usable kW / month over the full contract term, including NRC, escalator, cross-connects, and remote hands. Score on TCO, then evaluate qualitative factors: building-level carrier presence, SLA enforcement, compliance evidence, and expansion optionality.

Buyer Guide

Colocation RFP Checklist

Q: How should providers format their RFP responses?

Require a standardized spreadsheet with each line item priced separately—not a narrative proposal. This forces apples-to-apples comparison and prevents providers from hiding costs in bundled pricing. Set a common deadline for all responses.

A well-structured colocation RFP forces providers to answer the same commercial questions, so you can compare proposals apples to apples. This checklist covers every section a commercial colo RFP should include—from technical requirements to contract terms—so no provider can hide behind vague marketing responses.

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Company and workload overview

Company name, industry, and compliance requirements
Workload description (production, DR, dev/test, analytics)
Current infrastructure footprint (cabinets, kW, servers)
24-month growth projection (cabinets, kW, density)
Target go-live date and migration timeline

Space requirements

Initial cabinet or U count
Cage or suite requirements (if applicable)
Adjacent expansion rights requested
Physical security requirements (biometric, mantrap, CCTV)
Loading dock and staging area access

Power requirements

Total IT kW (initial and 24-month growth)
Sustained kW per rack (density band)
Power redundancy expectation (2N, N+1, etc.)
Power measurement method (reserved vs metered)
Overage billing rules and kW burst policy
Ready-for-service date and remedies if delayed

Cooling requirements

Target heat density (kW per rack)
Cooling technology required (air, rear-door, liquid, in-row)
Installed cooling capacity in target hall (not future)
Humidity and temperature control specifications

Connectivity and interconnect

Named carriers required (building-level, not metro-level)
Cloud on-ramps required (AWS Direct Connect, Azure ExpressRoute, Google Cloud Interconnect)
Cross-connect MRC and NRC pricing
Cross-connect lead times
Meet-me room access and carrier-neutral confirmation
Dark fiber or wavelength requirements

SLA requirements

Power uptime SLA and measurement method
Cooling uptime SLA and measurement method
Network uptime SLA (if provider-managed)
Maintenance window policy and notification requirements
SLA credit calculation and payout mechanism
Chronic outage termination rights
Incident response time and RCA delivery requirements

Compliance and certifications

SOC 2 Type II report (current)
ISO 27001 certification
PCI-DSS attestation (if applicable)
HIPAA compliance (if applicable)
FedRAMP authorization (if applicable)
Building-specific certification scope (not just corporate-wide)

Pricing and contract terms

MRC breakdown: space, power, cross-connects, remote hands
NRC breakdown: installation, cage build, cabling, cross-connect terminations
Power pricing method (reserved vs metered) and per-kW rate
Escalator: annual % increase, floor, cap, CPI-linked or fixed
Renewal pricing mechanic (pre-negotiated or reversion to list)
Term length options and early termination penalties
Expansion rights: adjacent kW at pre-negotiated commercial terms
Remote hands: included block, hourly rates, after-hours rates
Exit and de-install obligations, migration overlap period

Response format requirements

Require providers to respond in a standardized format: a spreadsheet with each line item priced separately, not a narrative proposal. This forces apples-to-apples comparison and prevents providers from hiding costs in bundled pricing. Set a deadline and require all responses by the same date so you can evaluate in parallel.

When the responses arrive, compare colocation proposals side by side on the same baseline.

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