7 questions you should ask before engaging data centre services

Businesses with core competencies other than DCM (data centre management) would find it difficult to keep up with the technological advancements and almost impossible to keep up with the scale of data flows.

Maintaining an inhouse data centre is a costly challenge and therefore, minimizing Capex related to DCs makes more sense. Most modern businesses rely on hybrid infrastructure which mixes and optimizes the colocation data centres with legacy and cloud systems.

Purpose built colocation data centres offer multiple benefits for the organisations, apart from reducing the CAPEX and leveraging OPEX with computing capacity.

Chosen right, colocation will offer more flexibility and scalability of data centre operations for any business, especially the digitally driven businesses.

While flexibility and scalability are two major factors for any business, whether digitally driven or not, the ability to upgrade and stay future ready are two essentials for survivability of today’s leading businesses.

Here are seven core questions organisations should seek to answers while engaging colocation data centre services.

1. Location Choices
   Location of your data centre is one of the hygiene factors to consider. The location based environmental factors and facilities play a significant role in reducing your recurring costs, disaster recovery and networking challenges.
   Another factor which may affect the operations for global firms is the regulations that govern the use and access to your data. Typically, any business should look at the following factors in the data centre location:
2. Seismic Zones of the Data Centre Facility
3. Air Quality
4. Proximity to power and network substations
5. Regional Security and stability
6. The proximity of DR-DC for faster recovery
7. Multi-Layer Physical Security
   Physical security of the data centre premises is an essential feature for continuous and reputable data centre operations. Dedicated colocation centres host multiple layers of security with fencing, personnel, and sensors for secure access and 27x7 surveillance.
8. High Density Environment Support
   Throughout data centre development, the power density requirements have seen one-way movement and are expected to retain so in the near future. While initially, data centre floor space was a sign of future ready infrastructure, now it is about the capability to handle high density setup within a single rack.
   STT GDC India colocation centres can handle a load of 3kW to 27kW per rack, which is useful for future technologies. While contemporary applications may work with lower power and cooling loads, mobility, IoT and big data applications will need significantly higher levels of tolerance in both spaces.
   High density data centre environment is more efficient in both capital expenditure and recurring costs and for a future ready data centre infrastructure.
9. Data Centre Support
   Organisations have now started shifting to remote management of their data centres or ‘lights out’ facilities. Such facilities are usually located in safe zones from natural disasters but should be close enough to work at minimal networking costs.
   Local data centres, with global operating and security standards, fit well into this description. Data centres support which is available 24x7 on-demand as per the predefined SLAs can keep the mission critical operations up and running round the clock.
10. Network Redundancies
    Omnichannel performance is the mainstay of today's information driven economy. The businesses which are operating globally need the data centre to support speed while managing networking costs. Multilayer and carrier dense connectivity are necessary for economical interconnection between disparate data stations.
    Owned facilities often find it difficult to maintain a large number of network carrier options. Thus, colocation facilities with carrier neutral connectivity are essential for error free connectivity to and from the data centre facilities.
    Additionally, global businesses should look for colocation service providers who can offer connectivity to the redundant network backbone connecting to the world.
11. Compliance & Disaster Recovery
    Every data centre has a different structure and operational standard. Verifying the data centre accreditations will give a clear picture if they meet your standard requirement for security, energy efficiency and telecommunication standards.
    Additionally, these accreditations will also help you understand whether your data centre operations can stay up and running during outages, or whether data centre support is equipped to handle your operational standards.
12. Future Ready Infrastructure
    Finally, your current requirement standards may dramatically change over the next few years. Your colocation facility should be equipped to handle your expansion plans and support future technologies, which demand higher computing capacities.