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When a company realizes that it has amassed so much data that it needs a dedicated data center, there are several steps it can take to ensure a smooth and efficient set-up process. From the initial decision to set up the data center until the first file upload and beyond, the corporate legal department is a critical player. Evaluate the need. The decision to build a data center typically arises out of growing demand for technological resources. Determining a company’s technology needs—and how those needs will change in the coming years—will inform many of the logistical decisions that go into creating a data center. Understanding security and backup needs will also inform this process. In-house lawyers must look at the data retention requirements and decide how much data the company needs to retain and for how long. This information is essential for the IT team to understand what requirements its data center facility must be able to fulfill. Align the data center requirements with the corporate risk threshold. No matter where the data center is built, its location poses some level of legal risk. Different jurisdictions have different data privacy regulations, litigation hold requirements, and e-discovery concerns. Companies that understand these risks can select a location that is consistent with their risk tolerance. Lawyers must first assess specific jurisdictional risks. Then they must work with the IT team and corporate management to determine how those risks fit into the data center business plan. Obtain stakeholder buy-in. Data center deployments usually involve many departments, including facilities, security, IT, sales, marketing, risk management, finance, and legal. Involving all stakeholders early in the planning process will help ensure the success of the data center deployment . Because data centers are getting bigger and more complex, space is a concern. A common mistake many companies make is planning to build a data center on their own sites. While this can work for organizations with a lot of land in remote locations, it is impossible for those in big, dense cities. Most office buildings and high rises simply don’t have the infrastructure or the space needed to support a data centre. You also in turn need to think of where the centre may be and how well it may be able to work for the business and levels of complex data.
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