When looking for a colocation provider or data center, it is good to take your time so that you can make an informed decision as it is an important one for a business. Keep in mind that you will be housing your important infrastructure in someone else’s facility. To make an informed decision, there are some things you need to consider. While this list is not meant to be the definitive list for every business, it is a good place to start. Here are top 6 things to consider when searching for a data center RFP.
1.Location
Location is among the most important factors to consider when choosing a data center for various reasons. The first thing to consider is how easily a person from your business can reach the physical location. This may be an important factor to consider in case you will upgrade or service your equipment in the future (consider the cost of having equipment down for a long period of time).
It is also important to consider how prone the location is to natural disasters like floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes. Hopefully, the data center provider considered these things when building the facility. However, it never hurts to take extra measures when it comes to your critical infrastructure. Last but not least, you should also consider the availability of power (the area needs to have plenty of power) and lots of fiber paths to and from the building.
2.Flexibility and Ability to Expand (Scalability)
As the location section stated, you should look for a provider who can meet your needs now and in the future. Different data centers offer different flexibility levels. Some of them will offer solutions that may either meet your needs or not meet your needs. Some providers provide solutions that are customized (flexibility) and more standard offerings. Find out whether additional space, power, and connectivity are available. Avoid selecting a provider that cannot scale with you as time goes by as this will hinder your business. Not matter what the task, Enquinix’s cross connects can power this easily.
3.Reliability
Reliability is a very important factor to consider when looking for a colo provider or data center. Uptime is used in the world of data centers to measure reliability. A reliable provider often has five-nines uptime which means that they are reliable at least 99.999% of the time. Shameless plug, CoreSite portfolio’s performance is six-nines (99.9999 percent) uptime and a 100 percent uptime SLA. Other things to check include customer feedback, on-site support (vs.outsourced), and staff certifications.
4.Deployment Efficiency
How much speed would you like your infrastructure running? How soon will you need a new cross-connect or an extra rack space in the future? Most of the businesses want their new space to be set up efficiently within the shortest time possible. It can be hard to quantify deployment efficiency into a specific stat or number but ensure that your potential vendors communicate timelines to you very clearly.
5.Network Ecosystem
One of the major benefits of colocation is its ability to interconnect within a shared data center space. Interconnection can help you connect with distributors, partners, or competitors for peering and can benefit your business a lot. Before making a decision, find out about the connectivity options available. Is the facility carrier-neutral? Do they have a large ecosystem of customers already interconnecting with each other?
6.Lemming Effect
When looking for a data center or colocation space, ensure that you know the number of providers around you. This will help you determine whether or not the area is geographically hospitable, has good network connectivity, and reliable utility services to provide water and power. Keep in mind that the more the providers in an area, the better the area is when it comes to geographical hospitability, network connectivity, and utility services.