Atman raises the bar on data centre services in Poland and Europe with the first DCOS certification

Warsaw (27 April, 2020) – Atman recently received the Data Centre Operations Standard (DCOS) Maturity Level-4 Certification from EPI. DCOS is a global standard covering all aspects for the operational management of a data centre, confirming its high level of reliability, continuity of operations, safety and security. Atman became the first company in Europe having obtained the prestigious DCOS certification.

DCOS (Data Centre Operations Standard) is the world’s only standard covering all areas of the maintenance and operation of data centres. It defines the governance, processes and procedures which should be implemented for data centre sites to make operational processes as efficient and secure as possible, and to prepare them for every eventuality. DCOS has 3 key goals. One, create an environment ensuring the proactive improvement of operations. Two, anticipate potential nonstandard events and the procedures to resolve and prevent them.  Three, a management system aimed at constant learning and drawing of conclusions from current experiences resulting in continuous improvement.

The certification of both data centre operations and facility ensures that all risks are mitigated and maximizes the availability of the centre’s services.

Operations, The Missing Complement To Infrastructure Technology

DCOS was created by experienced practitioners according to the requirements of ISO. Participating in its development, alongside experts from EPI, were more than 50 experts from financial data centres in Asia, the United States and Europe; and from data centre companies like Equinix, Microsoft, Dell, Ericsson and Tata Communications. This led to the world’s first document defining the standard for the complete operations of a high-availability data centre. On this basis certification audits were then designed, serving to confirm whether the procedures implemented at a given data centre are properly formulated and documented, effectively applied and constantly improved. Certifications have been carried out since 2016 by the Singapore-based audit firm, EPI.

“In the world of the data centre, like in aviation, procedures as well as technology play an essential role. For this reason, we decided to go through the process of implementation and finally certification under the international DCOS standard. DCOS enables the precise evaluation and verification of the quality of the operation and maintenance of a data centre, and the procedures in force. This leads to the highest level of security and quality of the services provided. Standard and certification like the ANSI/TIA-942 focus on the design and technical infrastructure of a data centre. They do not address the very important human and process aspects, which perhaps play an even more important role in value delivery,” explains Adam Dzielnicki, Data Centre Product Manager at Atman.

An Audit With The Highest Possible Rating

The DCOS standard distinguishes and describes 11 areas of data centre operations, leaving it to the operator to decide which areas to submit for audit. For its certification, Atman chose what it assessed as four vital areas having a direct impact on operations: Service Level Management, Data Centre Operations, Facilities Management, and Monitoring /Reporting/Control.

After carrying out the audit, EPI determined that Atman’s Warsaw-1 and Warsaw-2 Data Centres comply with the requirements of the standard in all four audited areas and awarded DCOS-4 certificates to both locations. This is the highest rating obtainable in this case—DCOS-5 is awarded only when the certification includes all 11 DCOS areas, including those which are already largely regulated by law or by ISO standards.

The achievement by Atman of a DCOS-4 certificate provides a guarantee not only that the operator’s procedures are well-defined, but also that their application is continuously documented, and their quality and adequacy are constantly monitored. All this ensures the highest availability of the services provided at Atman’s data centres.

“We spent two years preparing for the audit—we didn’t want to rush. We feel that the preparation stage itself, during which we consulted BCA Group, EPI’s partner in Eastern Europe, brought us many benefits. We compared the processes and procedures that we had developed previously with the guidelines of the DCOS standard. Following careful analysis by the team working on the certification, we modified some of the procedures and developed some new processes. We also expanded the requirements for documentation of the procedures used by employees. The changes enabled us to increase efficiency and security, ensuring the continuity of operations of the data centre and its services, and consequently the provision to our customers of uninterrupted access to their data,” says Arkadiusz Krześlak, Data Centre Maintenance Manager at Atman.

Prevention Is The Ultimate Advantage

According to the latest info from the industry, in 75% of cases, faults in IT systems result from errors made by employees during operation or maintenance. 10% of the cases cost organizations more than one million dollars, while in 28% of cases the losses exceeded $100,000.

The DCOS-4 provides the benchmark for processes which are measured, controlled and continuously improved. This means that the number of faults and human errors can be substantially reduced. Properly developed and implemented maintenance procedures guide data centre employees step-by-step through specified operations, leaving no room for error.

“We applaud Atman’s data centre managers for their progressiveness and leadership, making Atman the first data centre in Europe to achieve the world-class DCOS certification. It is an immense undertaking and the rewards are finally realized. Data centre customers can be assured that Atman is fully committed to providing the highest level of service and ensuring the customers’ data security,” says Edward van Leent, Chairman & CEO, EPI Groups of Companies.

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About Atman

ATM S.A. is the WSE listed Polish data centre market leader as well as an expert in security of data transmission and processing. Under the Atman brand, the company provides colocation, hosting and cloud computing services in its data centres with 16,470 sq m of the total space. Using own international links and fibre-optic networks in the largest Polish cities, Atman offers broadband IP services, including Internet access and data transmission. Major recipients of the services are telecommunications operators, traditional media, Internet portals, financial institutions, commercial and industrial companies.

More information at www.atman.pl.

About EPI

EPI is a global data centre specialist company of European-origin, with over 30 years of experience. EPI operates worldwide in over 60 countries and 130 cities through direct operations and a large partner network. EPI offers an extensive range of data centre expert services which includes accredited data centre and IT training, audit and certification, and the DCOS® - Data Centre Operations Standard.  

EPI is the world’s largest provider of accredited data centre training and ANSI/TIA-942 conformity audit and certification services. EPI is a registered Certification Body (CB).

EPI’s reputation has been built on delivering high-quality technical expertise with a continuous drive for excellence and innovation. Always on the leading edge, EPI has released many world’s first innovations including the DCOS® (Data Centre Operations Standard®), Data Centre Framework®, DCCF® (Data Centre Competence Framework®), Data Centre and IT Career Planning Tools, and Data Centre and IT Training Frameworks.

More information, visit www.epi-ap.com.