The Strive for Quality and Value: Data Center Certifications

The data center industry is experiencing a rapid growth in the recent years. Most of the innovations that will pave the way to the future like autonomous driving, 5G and even artificial innovations demand huge amounts of data to be processed in order to function properly, which leads to a tremendous growth of data centers – from edge DCs to hyperscale DCs. It becomes clear that data centers play a crucial role, when human lives are dependent on the availability of these infrastructures, as for example in the case of autonomous driving, which would not be possible to function without the use of data centers that process the enormous amounts of data.

The truth is that not only are human lives attached to data centers, but also are most companies, which would hit bankrupt without a data center to keep them operational. The data center market is dynamic and requires the ability to adapt constantly to new trends in order to be able to maintain competitive on the market – nevertheless the constant factor of these developments is the need of reliability and availability. With so many things being dependent on data centers, it is understandable that many parties pressure the operators of data centers to provide evidence of the functionality/availability, quality and security of their data centers. What follows any significant development is the establishment of measures in order to ensure the quality and security of such development. One way that many operators chose to relieve themselves from such pressure is by the means of certifications.

Certifications exist in many different fields and serve different purposes. For example the ISO 27001 (information security management) & ISO 9001 (quality management) address the organizational aspects or the EN 50600 / ISO 22237 , which is unique as it represents the only standard which was created specifically for data centers and addresses the physical security and availability of data centers.

The EN 50600/ISO 22237 is the first European resp. international standard, which represents a comprehensive approach for the planning, construction and operation of data centers in terms of their physical security and availability. It defines requirements in the fields of environment, construction, fire detection and extinguishing systems, security systems and organization, cabling, power supply, ventilation and air conditioning systems, organization and documentation.

Many operators have chosen to align their activities according to such standard, simply because this enables them to improve the quality of their services through an international recognized standard, to increase the trustworthiness of their services towards their customers, to reduce risks associated with their activities by identifying weaknesses and to add more value for their customers. It is just more than just a simple testimonial of a third party, since a certification usually requires a neutral assessment of a third party according to a criteria or requirements catalogue.

Especially in the age of the cloud and colocation, more and more enterprise data centers are choosing to outsource their IT-installations due to the involved costs, but without loss of quality. With the EN 50600 / ISO 22237 and corresponding criteria catalogues TSI.EN50600 & TSI.STANDARD developed by TÜViT there are tools available, which allow experts and tenders to assess the installations and to specify in detail their requirements towards the co-location provider. In the future, it will be of significant importance for the co-locators to address the standards and catalogues due to the growing demand and pressure of the customers.

A certification to such standard provides the co-location companies on the other hand with the ability to show transparency towards the customers by having a proof of their capable infrastructure according to an international recognized standard. A certification is not only a way of providing trustworthiness towards the customers, but they enable the operators to differentiate themselves on the market by improving their services and offering in the end more value, making them more attractive for potential clients by matching their certification demands.

TÜV Informationstechnik GmbH (TÜViT) is a worldwide-recognized evaluation and certification service-provider for data centers, colocation- and cloud-infrastructures, with more than 500 data center certifications issued globally since 2002.

With vast experience TÜViT is an unbiased and competent partner in the assessment and certification of data centers in terms of their availability aspects and energy efficiency in context of the EN 50600/ ISO 22237 , the TSI.STANDARD (Trusted Site Infrastructure) and ISO 50001. TÜViT provides neutral assessments and supports in every important phase of the data center life cycle, such as concept, design, construction, commissioning and operation.

Its portfolio also includes topics like cyber security, software and hardware evaluation, IoT/Industry 4.0, data protection, ISMS, Smart Energy, mobile security, automotive security, eID and identity verification services. TÜViTfounded in 1995 and headquartered in Essen, Germany, is a member of the TÜV NORD GROUP, one of the world's largest technology service providers with over 10,000 employees and business activities in 70 countries worldwide.

To learn more about TÜViT’s services and certifications in the data center sector visit: https://www.tuvit.de/en/services/data-centers-colocation-cloud-infrastructures/