5 Questions to Ask Your Provider to Ensure Data Center Compliance

In the age of big data, more and more companies’ data strategies are shaping their success and are key to remaining competitive in today’s markets.

Capitalizing on more and more data, these same companies need to find data centers and colocation providers to suit their specific needs, or build the data centers themselves.

If your business is in the process of picking the right colocation partner, a new white paper from Iron Mountain looks to help you decipher the key questions to ask your future or current data center provider about compliance.

“When you’re outsourcing your data center needs, understanding your colocation provider’s compliance, security, availability and integrity are of upmost importance,” the Iron Mountain report states.

The white paper begins by highlighting how a colocation provider can mitigate risk through physical and environmental controls from an operational and security standpoint.

Upkeep and improvement to this physical security program, as well as ensuring proper maintenance and operation of critical infrastructure are part of what makes  a comprehensive compliance program stand out, according to Iron Mountain.

Choosing the right colocation partner is critical, especially when it comes to compliance. — Iron Mountain

This new report provides details on what the company sees as five of the top things to ask your data center provider about compliance:

1. What certifications do you have? According to Iron Mountain, your colocation provider should have a SOC 2 Type II report and ISO27001 implemented at a minimum.
2. What security and operations posture is in place? It is also important to inquire about physical security policies, personnel security policies, service delivery, availability and change practices.
3. How is the organization showing continual improvement? A quality data center provider will show regular improvements to their services.
4. How will you support my compliance needs? Answering this question might start with a tour of the data center.
5. What is important to you as a company? Make sure the data center provider is aligned with your sustainability goals and business practices.

Download the full white paper, “Top 5 Things to Ask Your Data Center About Compliance,” courtesy of Iron Mountain, to explore some top compliance concerns for the data industry.