Missing step -1: find someone to get on your staff that knows what they are doing, or at least find a contractor with a good history of doing this kind of thing. After a certain point, you really shouldn't wing it. But if you're at that point, you should know if you actually need your own hardware, or if public cloud or other options are good for you. Some need their own, most don't. There's a lot of nuance there that is difficult to express in a short HN comment.