Know your current environment. This may sound ridiculous, but very few companies have accurate records of the location of all equipment and what it is used for?

What problems do you have that should be designed out in a new facility
• How are you going to use your new data centre to support the business?
• What level of resilience is required?
• What other buildings / companies / networks will it be connected to?
• How many data centres do you require?
• Where will the Network Operations Centre (NOC) or Operations Bridge be sited? How many NOC’s do you need?
• Will staff be permanently based there?
• How will the data centre be managed?
•Is the proposed site accessible to staff on a day to day basis?
• How often will there be deliveries?

DCS can provide strategic consultancy to help you create a cohesive strategy that compliments your business and meets your IT requirements.

Location
Will you be building in an existing building or a new purpose built one? Both have unique challenges.
The location must be secure from direct and indirect threats and risks.

• You may not be a terrorist target, but your neighbours might.
• Do your neighbours store or handle toxic or explosive substances. (This can include welding cylinders) Will an exclusion zone set up by the emergency services shut down your facility or cause long term evacuation?
• You may not be in a flood plain, but the building or site you are looking at may have a large bore water main running close by. A ruptured water main can cause more damage than a bomb blast.
• Does the location pose a risk, or perceived risk to out of hour’s workers?
• Are there any HR issues associated with the chosen location?

If you are looking at existing buildings, how can you be sure they will not become a liability once you build your data centre. (One company can only half fill server racks in their data centre because assumptions were made about the building)

DCS can provide consultancy to assist in the selection of suitable locations, whether they are existing buildings or green/brown field sites (See details of our building survey service).