From ultra-fast deployment to simply finding a colocation provider with high-density capacity, enterprise clients have a long list of demands when buying compute. As a Sales or Pre-Sales Manager, it can be hard to know which pain points to prioritise, what metrics to highlight, or how to address each client's concern.

This guide explains how to advise your enterprise clients on HPC colocation options, along with the questions to ask every time you evaluate a new data centre in the UK.

The factors your enterprise clients care about when buying HPC colocation

On-prem vs colocation vs cloud

“Where do I deploy?” This question is usually the starting point for enterprise clients: should they choose their own on-premises data centre, a cloud provider, or a HPC colocation data centre? For flexible scalability without over-provisioning, as well as the latest high-density facilities, colocation wins hands down; that’s why we’re focusing on colocation in this guide.

Capacity and scalability

Across every vertical, more and more enterprises require high-performance compute to run their AI workloads. But, according to Deep Green’s Head of Sales, Alastair Clegg, “Companies are now really, really struggling to find purpose-built high-density data centre capacity.” Many colocation providers are equipped for low-density workloads (5-10 kW/rack), but these aren’t able to execute AI tasks or accommodate scaling technology. Migrating to a new provider would slow momentum exactly when your clients want to accelerate. 

Offering enterprise clients an HPC colocation data centre with up to 100 kW racks changes the game. Not only can your clients get started with AI as soon as they deploy, but they can also scale their AI workloads without the expense and delays of changing providers. This is because high-density ready data centres already have the cooling equipment to handle high-performance computing.

Speed of deployment

It’s not just retrofitting cooling equipment that causes delays. Simply getting compute up and running can take some colocation providers months, or even years. Unsurprisingly, your enterprise clients won’t be willing to wait. Ali explains that, “Being able to land kit quickly is always going to be a key driver for organisations and enterprises." As a Sales or Pre-Sales Manager, partnering with HPC colocation data centres that can deploy in as little as four weeks is crucial. This helps you meet your enterprise clients’ priority concern: getting started with AI workloads in an environment that doesn't kick the scaling challenge down the road.

Operational costs and efficiency

It’s natural for your clients to prioritise cost when selecting an HPC colocation provider. If your clients deploy their kit in an inefficient data centre, they’ll spend more money cooling the equipment. In contrast, a hyper-efficient facility designed for heat reuse reduces its cooling requirements and saves your client money on operational costs.

Sustainability performance

Most enterprises’ top priority is quickly deploying efficient, cost-effective HPC. However, improving their ESG narrative and reducing emissions are also important factors when choosing colocation, especially for CSOs. Data centre efficiency plays a part here, as does running on renewable energy and minimising water use. However, all of these factors are just a starting point when it comes to sustainability. The most sustainable data centres in the UK reuse their heat by donating it to the community. This social impact is especially compelling for enterprise clients: “Having a really interesting sustainability story is something they particularly value,” says Ali. “These social benefits can be directly attributed to each client’s workload and used in their social impact and sustainability reporting.”

Latency and sovereignty

Location, location, location: the final concern for enterprise clients. Running visual inference or AI-heavy workloads requires ultra-low latency to ensure no lag in performance. This means enterprise clients need an HPC colocation data centre near their HQ. Offering high-density ready data centres in the UK’s AI hotspots, such as Manchester, means your portfolio perfectly matches your enterprise clients’ HPC needs. What’s more, sovereign, UK-based compute is essential for enterprises that process sensitive data.

How to address your enterprise clients’ concerns as a Sales or Pre-Sales Manager: the play-by-play conversation

Ali’s advice for Sales and Pre-Sales Managers? “Start with available capacity and speed to deployment.” First, outline how your HPC colocation solutions can deploy quickly and support high-density requirements. Then, focus on the data centre’s efficiency, explaining how this benefits their bottom line and sustainability performance, especially if the facility reuses heat. Finally, end with the social and environmental benefits, such as donating heat to communities, outlining how this will support an enterprise’s ESG goals and reduce its scope emissions.

Checklist for Sales and Pre-Sales Managers when evaluating HPC colocation

Want to know if an HPC colocation solution will meet your clients’ requirements? Here are the questions to ask and the metrics to look out for:

1. Can the facility support high-density workloads?
   Optimal: 100kW racks
   
   

2. What’s the deployment speed?
   Optimal: 4 weeks or less
   
   

3. How efficient is the facility?
   Optimal: PUE of 1.07 or lower, Energy Reuse Factor of 82% or higher
   
   

4. How else is the facility sustainable?
   Optimal: Renewable Energy Factor of 100%, Water Usage Effectiveness of 0.00018 or lower
   Bonus: Heat reuse facilities offer social sustainability by donating free heat to communities
   
   

5. How close is the facility to the enterprise’s HQ?
   Optimal: Less than 50 miles 

Enterprises need high-density HPC colocation to bring AI models to life

“In 2026, so many organisations and enterprises are looking to drive their company forward by using AI or high-performance compute,” Ali says. For Sales and Pre-Sales Managers, it’s crucial that you meet this need by offering enterprise clients high-density data centre capacity, where they can deploy in weeks, not months. Want to see a high-density data centre in action? Check out our Urmston facility.