* Sample criteria for sizing up and comparing data centers

By Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Network World, 05/10/05

I was recently asked to judge a data center award for excellence. I thought about this. Now, my experience as an analyst tells me that first impressions are often misleading. The best approach is to methodically look at the facts, develop some kind of methodology for comparison, and let the data do the talking. So how do you define and judge “excellence” in a data center? I developed a simple scorecard to help me evaluate the various candidates.

Of course, each analyst has an angle, and I wanted to look at the data center from the perspective of next-generation technologies and practices. Here are some of the things I looked at:

Agility - the only certainty in business is constant change. I expect a data center to provide a flexible infrastructure that allows the business to innovate and quickly enter new markets.