Data Centers: A Strategic Partner for Compliance

Most businesses see compliance requirements as additional overhead costs. However, when leveraged properly, compliance has a positive impact on business. A good compliance culture naturally morphs into developing good policies, processes, practices and an effective risk management function within the enterprise. The various compliance requirements also give organizations a pretext to check and scrutinize its IT assets to address any security gaps.

Realizing these benefits in the age of outsourcing, however, requires a relationship with data centers who are on the same page.

Data centers need to detail the physical and virtual security deployments in place, along with the various systems and processes they have. This will help solidify if the set up they have meets various compliance requirements.

Data centers also need to have clear, detailed and compliant advice documents, such as client data collection forms, records of advice and risk profiling questionnaires for each client. This helps the data center to pinpoint the compliance requirements for the client and take the necessary steps in that direction.

Good record keeping practices, which are mandated by the compliance requirements, serve as a valuable reference and assure clients that the data center actually follows the compliance standards. These logs will also help clients in cases of disputes, such as the client’s client or the end customer, suing for breach of confidential data.

A one-size solution rarely fits everyone. For instance, HIPAA compliance requires administrative safeguards, physical safeguards and technical safeguards. While data centers could refer to the compliance requirements and implement the best physical and technical safeguards possible, they need to work with the client on a one-to-one basis to draw up a security management process to identify and analyze specific risks to the protected health information. They also need to incorporate an information access management system to prevent data from being accessed by unauthorized users, even if they happen to be senior employees of the data center or the client.

Businesses need to approach compliance as a tool to unlock value and select data centers that are capable of becoming their strategic partner in this endeavor. Data centers need to consider making provisions for various compliance requirements as a strategic investment.

Lifeline Data Centers offers a host of data center solutions and packages, with 99.995% uptime and disaster recovery centers on site. The solutions comply fully with all relevant compliance requirements as required, and are at the same time flexible, allowing clients to pick and choose what they want. We keep up to date with all of the compliance regulations so you don’t have to.

Alex Carroll

Managing Member at Lifeline Data Centers

Alex, co-owner, is responsible for all real estate, construction and mission critical facilities: hardened buildings, power systems, cooling systems, fire suppression, and environmentals. Alex also manages relationships with the telecommunications providers and has an extensive background in IT infrastructure support, database administration and software design and development. Alex architected Lifeline’s proprietary GRCA system and is hands-on every day in the data center.