A couple weeks ago, I wrote about being disappointed by not being able to visit a PEAK 10 data center in Tampa to get a firsthand view of their services after an executive scheduled a meeting with me. The column brought in more feedback than I expected.

Several calls came in within 15 minutes of when it was published including one from an IBM executive. People apparently have a lot to say about watching out on claims made within the data center services arena.

The column was about being frustrated with not being able to walk through a facility with which I originally had a positive impression. Some respondents said most companies will have some type of “brag path” that you can walk through in a data center just to get an overview of its services. PEAK 10 did not offer that.

Do Your Due Diligence

From others involved in data centers, I got the impression that you better make sure you do some good due diligence before selecting a third party and turning over your mission-critical applications. There is a lot of hype out there with claims of reliability and redundancy without real resources.

As more corporate organizations look for outsourced facilities, they better make sure they are getting what they are buying. Here is a portion of a long letter from a Chicago reader who really highlighted what I thought were some of the issues:

Your instincts were right on. There is most definitely a wide variation in the caliber of the data center from one company to another and often in between data centers of the same company.

It is a highly recommended best practice to go and see your specific data center as part of contracting due diligence. You learn a lot within the first five minutes you are there about how well they run their shop and how secure and safe your assets really are.

Different data centers have different regulations regarding visitors. The better (i.e. more secure) ones are often legitimately quite strict about who has access to the facility.

For example, I had to be approved by my client contact and sign an non-disclosure agreement prior to gaining access to the data center. I was never allowed out on the floor without an Exodus employee being with me at all times.

They were very sensitive about cameras. None were allowed.

Most data centers have a “brag path” through the facility that allows visitors (once they have signed a non-disclosure agreement) to get a feel for the size and caliber of the operation without getting too close to anything.

While you are typically not on the floor, you get a chance to see things from hallways through windows and such. This is standard operating procedure if someone has a nice data center and has nothing to hide. That they didn’t do this for you should indeed raise red flags.

Another reader from Colorado who has several decades of IT experience wrote:

That will be the last time they string you along without giving it some thought. I agree with you that most companies are always trying to parade their facilities to people. It makes for free advertising.

Trite phrases like “customer privacy” are putoffs. By its very nature, the data center ensures privacy unless you are showing up with a laptop, planning to do some major downloads and hacking in their presence. What are they hiding?

I would be very surprised if you don’t get something from them (whether conciliatory or nasty). Either way, PEAK 10 may be more nadir. They certainly are in their primal business and customer services skills.

~ Mark

Another industry veteran who has decades of experience with facilities planning for mission-critical infrastructure including several major hospitals and airports in the U.S. and abroad simply wrote:

Impressive ink and unfortunately deserved. Too bad for them.

~ Craig

Without belaboring the points raised by readers, I did not get a good impression on what PEAK 10 claimed they had as facilities. I would be very suspect of what they list in their marketing materials and what is actually out on the floor. As one industry veteran put it: “Give me a better answer. I didn’t fall down in yesterday’s rain.”

Carlinism: If you can’t walk through it, walk past it.