Business Case Study

Business Challenges

Atman data centers, located in Warsaw, Poland, are well known in the market for providing quality service to their customers. As part of their commitment to services they implemented standards such as ISO-9001:2015 and ISO/IEC-27001:2013 to ensure the confidentiality, availability and integrity of processed information for its customers.

However, whilst implementing these standards it became immediately clear that these standards are very generic and are not specifically written with mission critical data centers in mind. ISO standards also cover only certain aspects of running an effective and efficient data center environment. Although Atman had many stringent processes in place, it wanted to benchmark its data center operations against a global and world class standard specifically aimed at data center environments.

Why Atman Chose DCOS^®

Atman did a comprehensive market study to review which data center operations guidelines and standards are available in the market. They ultimately selected DCOS® as it stood out for many reasons.

• DCOS^® is a standard specifically written for data center environments. It does not only specify how to define and carry out the proper process of servicing the facility and fixing faults, it also defines good practices and procedures in many other areas.  These areas include the management of data center service teams, suppliers and the level of services rendered, physical security and maintenance of cabling facilities, equipment installations, cyclical system reviews, incidents, monitoring and reporting, emergency and pandemic handling, and even maintaining order and cleanliness in the building.
• DCOS^® was created in collaboration with over 50 data center operators/owners both in the private and public sector as well as across a wide variety of industries.
• DCOS^® is very practical.  It is written in such a way that it is easy to understand what is required to meet the criteria of the standard in order to achieve the appropriate quality metrics.
• DCOS^® is addressing all 11 disciplines/domains relevant to a data center environment.
• DCOS^® is fully aligned with relevant ISO standards ensuring that what had been implemented could be re-used and refined further.
• DCOS^® certification allows the flexibility to specify which disciplines/domains to be included in the scope and from there on expand the scope as and when it makes business sense.
• DCOS^® is not a pass/fail standard but a standard which measures process maturity based on the ISO standard for process maturity.
• DCOS^® allows for progressive improvement for both the selected scope as well as the maturity levels thus enabling flexible resource scheduling. It allows growing the goal set by the organization in clear measurable KPIs each year.

The Benefits Which Atman Has Realized With DCOS® Maturity Level-4 Certification

The team at Atman realized that implementing DCOS^® presented many benefits and opportunities.

Implementing DCOS^® has resulted in having a detailed review of existing procedures and processes by their team. This led to some of them being revised and also the creation of new processes and procedures where it resulted in enhancing services levels whilst minimizing risk.

DCOS^® also resulted in a more structured approach in the application of the processes ensuring that execution is well documented. This allows for a structured review to further improve the processes over time and to have a clear audit trail.

Thanks to the introduced changes, Atman has increased the efficiency and security for the continuity of the data center operation and the services they provide to their customers. This has resulted in higher availability and security.

Atman has now put additional due diligence into all processes. The processes will be given regular review with an outlook on the future requirements of their customers. This leads to a constant improvement cycle whilst having full control over the quality of its processes, thus resulting in further improved service delivery to its customers.

About Atman

ATM S.A. is the WSE listed Polish data center 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 centers 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.

Download the Business Case Study (pdf)

Related information:

• About DCOS^® (Data Center Operations Standard)
• DCOS^® Certified Sites

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