Never Work With a Data Center That Doesn’t Offer You These 4 Things

What's the most valuable part of your company? If you were in sales, you would say 'the customer,' or if you were in a leadership role, you may say 'the employees.'

However, if you work in IT you know the truth is the most important part is the system that houses customer and employee data.

This is why choosing the right data center is such an absolutely massive decision. If you're in charge of this decision, you're going to analyze data center specification and costs to find the best fit.

However, when looking at the costs, remember you can't put a price on these 4 things.

Scalability

It's important that you don't have tunnel vision and only focus on your business' needs today. What will they look like in 5 years? Or 10?

Does this data center offer you the flexibility to scale your package to grow as your business grows? Do they have an attentive staff that can forecast when your needs are likely to change, so you can be predictive instead of reactive?

You're hosting your data off-site so you can grow your business. Make sure your data center isn't going to stand in your way.

Geographic Location

It's hard to stress how important this is.

First of all, your data center should never be geographically anywhere near you. You need to ensure that the same natural disaster or outage doesn't affect both of you and compromise both of your facilities.

You also want to choose a data center that sits in a state that offers tax incentives and low energy costs for them. This can really help you keep costs low, without sacrificing value.

Proven Reliability 

The emphasis here is on 'proven.' They should be able to show you detailed reports and offer specific details into the level of uptime and reliability you can expect. You need hard data, not vague promises. You don't want to know what they are capable of doing. You want to know what they've done.

Also, beware of the word 'equivalent.' As in a Tier 3 or 4 Equivalent data center. This means they're promising you the same service you would get at an Uptime Institute certified Tier 3 or Tier 4 facility, at a lower price. However, they have not gone through the certification process, so their facilities are not as reliable.

Customer Service

Ask for references and read case studies.

It's hard to understate the value of good customer service from a data center. You will never need it until you urgently need it. If you have a time-sensitive question or concern, where will they be?

Anyone can seem attentive and customer-focused during the sales process. However, look for proof that they will maintain this level of service for years after the sale and that they will always be there when you need them.

If you're only looking at a quoted price, you're probably only seeing what it will cost today. What will it cost/take to scale your services, where are they located, how reliable is their service proven to be and what is their level of service? Those questions will give you a better idea of what this center will really cost you in the long run.