As the end of June 2012 approaches and the 360TCS Team proudly adds number 45 to our spotless track record of consecutive months without an outage, a saying used frequently by my dear, departed Grandfather comes to mind.
“The proof is in the pudding” is a popular figure of speech meaning “the quality, effectiveness or truth of something can only be judged by putting it into action or to its intended use.” The phrase we have all heard is actually a modified version of the original phrase, which was “the proof of the pudding is in the eating.” A dish may have been made from a good recipe with fresh ingredients and look delicious, but you can really only judge it by putting it in your mouth. The actual taste is the only true criterion of success.
How does this relate to colocation?
Being in a client facing role, I spend a great deal of time providing prospective clients with tours of our facility during which I talk extensively about concurrently maintainable systems, N+1 / 2N redundancies and physical security. I mention how our self-healing fiber ring with nodes in the most important Telco Hotels in the Midwest provides us with the ability cross connect to over 200 different carriers. I point out that we have successfully completed a third party SSAE-16 Type II audit and that we monitor and control over 100,000 different data points with our DCIM software, etc. etc…. I could go on and on, and many times I do.
My goal is to demonstrate to potential end users that we have deployed the proper infrastructure to support their mission critical compute environments. We stress attention to detail and perform the rigorous testing and preventative maintenance required to achieve the level of service an enterprise level client base demands.
Clients interested in colocation in the Chicago area have many options. Whether that Data Center is large or small, most will show well, and many will claim similar levels of redundancy within their infrastructure. So how does a client determine which provider is the right choice?
I come back to “The proof is in the pudding.” Ask about up-time, ask to talk to existing clients with similar services. If a provider is hesitant to provide documentation or is reluctant to provide references it may be a red flag. At 360TCS we are happy to provide both.
If you’d like to experience the peace of mind that all 360TCS clients enjoy or if you’d simply like a private tour of a truly advanced facility, contact me directly.
Don Welbourn
dwelbourn@360tcs.com – 312-884-3988
360TCS Chicago Colocation Blog 