In selecting the right data center colocation, important considerations are the visibility and management tools available for the customer. Monitoring power consumption, having a DRready environment and truly partnering with the provider are vital consideration points in making the proper data center choice. This is the forth article in a series on Colocation Selection and Best Practices. Below is an abridged version of Section 4 of the Data Center Knowledge Guide to Colocation Selection.
During the planning phases, things like contracts, expectations and management tools must be laid out to ensure that everyone is on the same page. When working with a colocation provider, there will be important planning points and ongoing considerations around a good data center rollout.
Working with a Service Level Agreement
When selecting the right colocation provider, creating or having a good SLA and establishing clear lines of demarcation are crucial. Many times, an SLA can be developed based on the needs of the organization and what is being hosted within the data center infrastructure. This means identifying key workloads, applications, servers and more. From there, an organization can develop base service agreements for uptime, issue resolution, response time and more. Creating a good SLA document can take some time — but it’s important to do so carefully since this can govern the performance of your environment. Some very high uptime environments will build in credits into their LA. In these situations, for example, a colocation provider could issue credits if power is unavailable. Creating an SLA is a partnership between the data center provider and the customer. Expectations must be clearly laid out to ensure that all performance, recovery and other expectations are met. Surprises or encountering unknowns in a production, highly utilized environment can result in loss of productivity, time and dollars.
