Every startup needs servers and the assistance of other computing hardware in order to do business in the digital age. Not every startup has the resources to house these important components on their own, though, and many wouldn’t want to if they could. Fortunately, colocation makes it easier than ever for startups to get the hardware they need at an affordable price. Still, this method has become so popular in recent years that you’ll find there are many colocation providers competing for your business, so let’s look at what you really need from them.
Start with Your Needs
This is very important. Before you can size up your colocation provider options, you need to know what your startup absolutely must have in terms of hardware and space. The former you’ll be in charge of providing, but the latter is going to come from the provider. Both are intertwined.
You’ll also need to get an idea of your budget. Do all of this now so when you start considering colocation providers, you don’t stray from your needs or what you can afford.
Breadth of Capabilities
It’s also worth considering what your startup may need in the future. Depending on where you are in the lifespan of your company, this could change in the very near future. If you’re still on your first few years, your needs may drastically change in just another one or two.
When that happens, it will be a lot easier if you can stay with the same colocation provider to accommodate your new needs. So take that last step a bit further and try to forecast out into the future to determine what you may need later.
While the dream of scaling up may seem like a distant goal, it’s still important to prepare for it now, especially when it comes to finding the perfect colocation provider.
Security and Compliance
This one is a bit of a no-brainer, but it’s still worth mentioning. You have to make sure that any potential provider’s security certifications are going to be sufficient for your security and compliance requirements. Otherwise, there’s absolutely no point to further considering any provider.
Obviously, security should always be a major factor to consider in this day and age. However, if your company is handling sensitive data – especially the kind that may be regulated by HIPAA – you really can’t budge on security requirements.
The Data Center’s Locations
You probably won’t be paying daily visits to the data center you choose, but it’s a good idea to think about how often you may have the need to get in front of your hardware. If you’ll be doing it a lot, you’ll want a provider that’s closer to your startup.
It’s also important to pick a colocation provider that has limited risks related to its location. Fortunately, most facilities have a number of redundancy measures in place for even the most powerful of natural disasters.
Continuous Uptime for Critical Systems
Finally, uptime is always important. You want a colocation provider who will guarantee that your critical systems are continuously online and find out what they’ll do if this ever fails to happen.
Uptime is essential no matter what, but it’s going to be vital for any items of your startup’s that are client-facing. If a customer portal drops off, for example, you’re going to lose face with your market (to say nothing of missing out on that purchase too).
Take your time with this decision as it’s an important one. The last thing you want to do is get set up with a colocation provider only to realize you made a mistake that now needs to be undone.