Taking down a data center is a complicated task. The most important thing for our clients, and good reason, is to get the most out of their money while minimizing risks. Taking down a data center is a big deal, and there are many things to think about. Some of these things to consider are avoiding damage to the building’s infrastructure and putting the proper tracking, and auditing systems in place.
Before starting the decommissioning process, you should list things to do and hire a reputable data center decommissioning services to do the work. Doing these two things makes your data center’s move or consolidation more likely to go smoothly. Here are six more things you might want to do before shutting down a data center:
Assess Operating Expenses And Financial Liabilities.
Decommissioning a data center takes more skill and time than you might think, so make sure to make a schedule. Think about how much it will cost, how it will be done, and how it will be broken down and thrown away.
Assign A Project Manager.
Data center decommissioning services is a process with many parts that need close attention. If you have the money and time to hire a project manager, it is a good idea. It’s always a good idea to have someone run the job directly.
Review Your Existing Lease.
Find the lease and make sure you know how the space needs to be left when you move out, as well as if any other paperwork needs to be done. If you want to sell things in the data center, like computer room air conditioners, generators, or towers, you should get an estimate and then list vendors who might be interested in buying these things.
Track and Audit Equipment and Serial Numbers.
We recommend hiring a data center decommissioning Services Company to do this job for you. Equipment tracking and auditing can be a long and confusing process, and if there are not enough people to help, mistakes are easy.
Inquire about How Your Data Destruction Company
Even though there are no federal rules about getting rid of electronic waste, the Environmental Protection Agency has made rules and standards as part of a program they call e cycling. Ensure that all e-waste is thrown away in a way that does not harm the environment.
Safety and health
If you are completely shutting down a data center, you probably have other plans for the building. If so, you need to make sure that the data center decommissioning part of the work is done in the correct order and that you have a realistic schedule. Will it be safe, from both an IT security and a safety point of view, to have other workers on-site while the decommissioning is happening?
When you think about things like these, it will change the timeline and the bottom line. Nevertheless, if you try to have too many different workers on-site simultaneously, you may run several security, health, and safety risks.
In conclusion, shutting down a data center is a relatively new process that requires a unique set of skills, experience, labour, and the ability to scale. If you do not hire a data centre-decommissioning provider, your company will be vulnerable from a regulatory point of view.
However, if you hire data center decommissioning services with experience and a good track record, you can reduce the risks and make the switch from private servers to a cloud provider smoothly. Most importantly, your old data center will be at peace and won’t return to haunt you.