How to choose the best data center for your business?

So the key question is: how do you choose a data center? 

 

1. Start by checking the location and the land on which the data center is built

This is the one of the most important aspects in terms of physical safety. The geographic location of the center should be in an area that is safe from flooding or fires. The selection of a data center should be based on information on whether the building is not in close proximity to, for example, warehouses, which can also be an external risk of unforeseen events, including fire.

Maintaining business continuity is crucial and data center should guarantee it. However, unforeseen events are known to occur due to threats located in the close vicinity of the data center. That’s why, when choosing a service provider, it’s worth verifying that:

• building is not adapted but was built as a data center,
• the parcel where the data center is located is owned by the service provider,
• there are building intended to serve purpose other than the provision of data processing services, which could potentially endanger the proper functioning of the CPD.

2. Find out what quality and safety certification has the CPD

The quality of services should determine which data center to select. Undoubtedly, the high standards and certificates met by such centers can indicate the high quality of services. The top-notch physical security standards and certifications provide greater assurance that data is safe and the risk of business interruptions is minimized.

Examples of standards and certificates that a data center should meet:

• ISO 27001
• ISO 27017
• ISO9001
• GDPR compliance
• Compliance with the FSA’s January 23, 2020 guidelines.

 

3. Check if the provider has a second or backup CPD 4. Ask about additional cybersecurity services provided by your chosen provider

A company planning to work with data center should think not only which data center to choose, but also how to take care of the continuity of the IT environment necessary for the proper functioning of the company. Therefore, it is important that the selected data center also has a second backup center. It is also worth checking whether the service provider has the ability to send a backup and whether it provides a full Disaster Recovery service with synchronous replication of databases in two geographically distant centers. Such a solution can give us confidence that our data will be fully secure.

4. Ask about additional cybersecurity services provided by your chosen provider

Proper preparation of IT resources for the business’ crucial systems and applications, and their adequate security, significantly reduces the risk of downtown causing hard-to-estimate losses.

A contract with a cloud computing provider usually implies the start of a long-term cooperation. Therefore, even if adequate data security is not a core aspect for you at the time of signing the contract (sic!), given the growing scale of cyber threats, a prospective partner in the field of data center services is one that can ensure the security of the customers. A data center offering cybersecurity services gives confidence that it has an understanding of the challenges of today’s digital world. It’s also worth bearing in mind that digital transformation disconnected from cyber security factors can be counterproductive to the stated goal of increasing business continuity.

5. Read customer references

Case studies and opinions of clients using the services of a particular data center are a very good source of information on the quality of services and solutions provided. They are worth reviewing to get an idea of our potential business partner’s experience and how they deal with their customers’ challenges.