Do you need help choosing your co-location provider?

Hosting data in-house can be a costly experience. It’s a bit like owning your own car; you have all the responsibility of upkeep and repairs, and just when you think everything is plain sailing, a whopping unexpected bill lands on your doormat. With this in mind, many are now thinking of ‘leasing their car’ instead, and handing back some of the cost and responsibility to the ‘dealership’. By choosing to use a colocation facility for your data, you could be benefiting from increased network security, better connectivity, lower costs, and less worry. But now you are faced with which provider to choose. By following some of these tips, you can avoid a bumpy ‘colo-coaster’ ride.

Business Continuity Management is very advantageous and not many facilities have this accreditation

Location, location, location

  The location of your data centre colocation facility may be more important than you think. If you intend to use the facility as you primary site then your IT staff needs to be able to easily access it. If you’re business is in the north of England, then it may not be constructive to have your data centre in the south.  

Power up

  Does the facility have easy access to a major power supply? Where are the power stations located? Power not only needs to be delivered to your equipment within the data centre, but also for the data centre itself. Therefore, you should gauge the facility’s overall access to the power grid, not just your company’s access.

Lock down

  Security should be high on the agenda when choosing a colocation partner. Ensure the facility has pulled out all of the stops to make sure your data is protected. Preferably, it should have multiple levels of physical security inside and outside the data centre. Find out which areas are covered by surveillance technology and if they have follow a pre-arranged visitor access procedure. First class providers are continually evaluating their data centre facilities for vulnerabilities as they understand the importance of remaining diligent in order to protect their facilities and their clients’ IT assets.  

A credit to your business

  You need your colocation partner to have all the correct certification and accreditation, including ISO27001 – Information Security Management processes and ISO 9001 – Quality Management System. ISO 22301 – Business Continuity Management is very advantageous and not many facilities have this accreditation. It demonstrations that they have conducted a complete mains failure test and have identified the risks and problems that can occur during this activity and shown they can restore their systems, so there is continuity in service.  

Scale and flex

  Who knows when you will need to scale up or down; after all, business can be unpredictable. Make sure your colocation provider can easily scale up or down to meet changing business demands or technology innovations.  

Carrier neutral

  Why is carrier neutrality so important? Well, in a non-carrier-neutral environment, you have only has one option for service. This can lead to higher prices, limited bandwidth, and being at the complete mercy of whatever provider the data centre is connected with.  

Testify!

  Check out the latest testimonies and reviews. Do they host for big, reputable names? If high profile, dependable organisations have put their trust in the facility, the chances are you can too.  

Choose a partner

  Colocation is much more than choosing a provider; choosing where to host your IT is more about selecting a partner. Make sure your partner offers you the very best in terms of cost, flexibility, quality, service, security and more.  

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