The Challenge
There are few challenges organizations that are greater than finding the right colocation provider. It seems easy on the surface, and there are so many providers who are eager, and provide great depths and testimonials about the marvels of their data center, its location, robustness of security, resilience of systems, it can make your head spin. But the truth of colocation providers is: They have a space to sell, whether it's right for your business or not, it's their job to sell the space. They are incentivized on selling the space, and not on how well it actually performs.
Colocation Due Diligence
Global Data Center Engineering utilizes a process for colocation due diligence that covers multiple disciplines across multiple domains, and not just in silo, but how the also function together. Critical areas include:
- Facility
- Structural
- Physical Security
- Data Security
- Mechanical
- Electrical
- Environmental Effectiveness
- Telecommunications
- Power Generation
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- Fuel Supply
- Past Performance (Incidents and Outages)
- Risk Profile
- Operations
- Human Error Management
- Support
- Maintenance Programs
- SLA - Commercial Terms
- SLA - Systems Response
Our process considers between 250 and 450 points across these systems. (The number of points examined varies depending on business requirements, and depth that you may wish to go into regarding the sites).
The DCide™ Difference
The process was created by our team who have decades of experience in this process. Over the years, they have refined it, and with GDCE's proprietary DCide™ system, we can rapidly match against 100's of existing colocation providers globally, who match your business case and availability objectives. DCide™ also manages the process, including provided weighted scoring across disciplines to help you make the right decision for your colocation project. GDCE process can cut days or weeks off of the colocation search process, while reducing the cost of selecting a vendor significantly.
You get to Play Too
As part of the process, GDCE will guide your selection team through the simplified process. They will provide their feedback in a simple 1 - 5 scoring system for each of the components, which are then fed into DCide™ for aggregation. In a matter of minutes, the cumbersome task of aggregating multiple team members input into a solid decision science tool for taking the next steps in the colocation decision process are produced, and made available as PDF image so you can distribute and socialize the results among your team, as you deem necessary.
The Negotiations
GDCE can also assist you with the negotiation of favorable terms of lease, and provide strategies that enable your company to shrink or grow its colocation footprint over the life of the engagement. Need more space later, but don't want to pay now? We can help you negotiate that into your terms. Expecting a heavy transformation project, with aggressive consolidation and virtualization over the coming months? GDCE have experience to negotiate contractual engagements with colocation providers that allow you to reduce your footprint, and your cost as your data center evolves. Let us show you how we can influence your next colocation site selection.