An 8-point Checklist for DC Outsourcing

Data center outsourcing is always a hot topic of discussion as there is a lot of risk attached to it. An organization should always calculate the whole costs of an internal facility and then compare them to the costs of external hosting.

While cost of internal facilities includes costs of licensing, maintenance, security power, connectivity, cooling, property costs, and staffing resources, some key considerations are required to select the right vendor for outsourcing of data.

Despite its risky nature, data center outsourcing has seen a constant growth in the Indian market. If the first step of selecting a data center services vendor is done right, then surely the organization will benefit in numerous ways.

Here are some key considerations that can help access the right selection of vendor for outsourcing of data center:

1 Determine IT's Ability to Meet Business Needs: While data center processes are of high value, the ability to deliver IT services in a structured manner can lower the overall cost of enterprise significantly. The ability to fulfill the performance expectation and quality in services on data center process outsourcing should be evaluated properly before taking any decision.

Access, process by process should be considered on priority basis. Then determine what can be retained or outsource using mathematical models.

2 Proper Documentations: Do proper documentations once each process has been clearly identified. Be sure to include the capabilities required to continue delivery of processes which should define clearly a) service scope b) key performance indicators (KPI) c) service level agreement d) governance and transition processes.

3 Space Utilization: Space utilized for your equipment is a major criteria for selecting the right data center since each square foot utilized adds to your cost of operations. Certain basic questions you may ask should relate to server density and form factor plus cooling and energy saving criteria as these are also billable.

4 Power Supply: If the outsourced location has uninterrupted power systems. The questions should be-is the power supply via a series of fault-tolerant and redundant sub-systems? Is it backed by commercial and private power sources, including batteries and generators?

5 The Cost Factor: Outsourcing can bring resources in terms of newer skillset that you may not have in-house, however, everything comes with a cost. The 2 major cost criteria in an outsource DC can be measured in terms of fixed and variable.

Fixed cost can be measured by laying down parameters on infrastructure and its utilization. On the contrary, variable cost can be determined on periodic basis by identifying, by leveraging the resource utilization in terms of manpower. Permanent staffing could be reduced or eliminated if required.

6 Data Connectivity: One major criteria of deciding the right vendor should be to identify the data connectivity and networking solutions being adopted by the vendor. Though security for the same is of prime concern, one should not overlook the performance requirements of hosting critical applications over the network for a typical client server interface. Important considerations such as dedicated storage network and WAN connectivity should be taken care of. Further, a secured and dedicated backup mechanism for critical data should be provided by the vendor. In case of any unforeseen mishap or disaster, the client should access clearly the data security or DR policy of the vendor carefully before taking decision. In such cases, RTO and RPO should be calculated and certified.

7 Selecting SLA: Before drafting SLA, one should remember that the vendor has the choice of various processes. Hence, the company and data center outsourcing vendor agree on all the processes. One should necessarily discuss a detailed work plan with the data center services vendor.

An SLA should consists of:

Nature of the service provided should be specified. For example, SAP application maintenance support.

Level of the service provided should be specified: frequency, coverage, time-scales, etc.

Details of the refund or compensation if things do not go according to plan.

Weekly meeting to review the progress and clarify doubts.

SLAs need to be measured periodically, and all issues which arise should be documented. The document would help in tracking.

8 Security Concern: One has to look into the types of security being used for different purposes from physical access to logical access.

Does your data center services provider control physical access via lock and key? Is a card scanner being employed to track who is there in the data center and when? Does your data center services provider maintain a log entry describing the purpose of every visit?

As the sensitivity of your application server intensifies, so does the security needed to protect it.

Many companies are not comfortable with the idea of letting a data center service provider manage their key IT resources. These concerns are addressable by deploying a solution to prevent data loss, along with a comprehensive network security solution. Ensure that your data center service providers are accountable for delivering the service.