In part 1 of this 2 part series, I talked about your disaster recovery center location, the proximity to your main office and IT staff, and assessing the risks of the region that you choose.  In part 2, I’ll talk about telecom connectivity, compliance, workgroup recovery space and costs.

Access to telecom connectivity, both for point-to-point connections and for Internet bandwidth, is a critical decision point for your disaster recovery center.  More choices are better;  if you are using disaster recovery colocation, look for carrier neutral data center facilities and  try to avoid centers that charge monthly cross connect fees.  Distance typically drives up telecom costs, but point-to-point prices are lower than ever, and using the Internet as an emergency transport can offer significant savings and flexibility.

If your business is regulated by HIPAA, Sarbanes Oxley, the SEC, the FDA or any of the dozens of government agencies, you’ve probably already gone through the steps of making your enterprise data center compliant.  Using an outsource data center for your disaster recovery center lets you leverage their certifications. A SAS 70 data center provides a good start on compliance with many of the other regulatory standards.  Many outsourcers provide TIA 942 compliant data center facilities which are also managed to be HIPAA and Sarbanes Oxley compliant.  But remember, your outsource data center provider is part only part of the solution.  Your equipment and systems must also be compliant.

Access to office space or workgroup recovery space can also be a critical decision point.  Here’s what to ask yourself to determine if you need office space along with your hardened disaster recovery center.

Finally, how do you effective manage costs in your disaster recovery center?   Finding affordable colocation is one of the easiest ways.  You can avoid the capital costs of building, leverage the hardened data center facilities,  compliance and their tier III or tier IV rating of the outsource data center.  You also have the added benefit of more flexibility to grow and change.   Watch out for add-on charges and hidden fees.  Build your list of criteria and find the best outsource data center for your disaster recovery needs.