Above: Sean Koon Koon – Data Center and Cloud Manager. Photo courtesy TSTT.
TSTT’s data centre remains the most reliable in Trinidad and Tobago, and among the top ranked facilities in the Caribbean and Latin America after a rigorous certification exercise by global data centre specialist and accredited certification body, EPI. This accomplishment validates TSTT’s data management processes and offers added assurance that users’ data is well protected.
EPI officially renewed TSTT’s Data Centre Operations Standard (DCOS) conformity certification for maturity level 3. This added credential validates that TSTT’s data centre processes are “managed, measured, and controlled.”
The rigorous audit benchmarked TSTT’s data centre operations against eight key disciplines: Facilities Management, Organization, Organizational Resilience, Data Centre Operations, Safety Management, Service Level Management, Security Management, and Monitoring/Reporting & Control.
TSTT has performed proper due diligence for risk reduction, risk management, and operational efficiency. This achievement sets TSTT apart from other data centre providers as it is the only data centre in the Caribbean with both DCOS Maturity Level 3 and TIA 942-B Rated 3 certifications.
“TSTT is running a very critical infrastructure,” said Joseba Calvo, Managing Partner, EPI LATAM. “Market research has proven that governance, maintenance, and operations are key factors for an effective and efficient data centre making sure they give the best, reliable service to their customers. TSTT clearly understands this. We are very pleased that they realize the value of the DCOS and how it can help them benchmark themselves based on an internationally recognized ISO maturity model.
The TSTT team is highly skilled. Following a yearly Data Centre Training Roadmap, they have gathered elite certifications in the industry, having on staff two people achieving the Expert level CDCE®. There are only ten (10) professionals in Latin America and the Caribbean region with this certification, showing TSTT’s dedication to constantly improving its data centre operations.”
Sean Koon Koon, Data Centre and Cloud Manager at TSTT noted that although TSTT’s data centre was already among those with the highest number of certifications in the region, the company decided to apply for the DCOS from EPI for three key reasons. “Firstly, the DCOS is the only data centre operations standard that covers all process domains in a data centre. Secondly, DCOS gives us the ability to do progressive improvement because the DCOS maturity levels (1-5) are based on the well-known ISO continuous improvement model.
Thirdly, DCOS is aligned with ISO, hence we did not have to adjust or recreate existing processes since they were developed compliant to the ISO format,” stated Koon Koon.
Since the DCOS certification is awarded by an independent, reputable, and globally recognized certification body (EPI), it gives existing and future customers added confidence in TSTT’s data centre capabilities. “This DCOS certification further differentiates TSTT from others. It validates that TSTT’s data centres are under proper management control with standardized and documented processes. It is an assurance to the customer that the audit is performed, and the certification awarded by a third-party with indisputable reputation and earned the respect of major data centre players globally,” added Koon Koon.
“We are seeing a greater than anticipated uptake on our DCOS,” said Edward van Leent, Chairman & CEO, EPI Group of Companies. “We worked very hard to get a practical, ISO-aligned standard out to fill a gap and clearly the industry agrees. Recently we have seen an increased demand from data centres to be audited based on the DCOS. Many applauded the DCOS for addressing the problems in the industry. Firstly, as a single complete reference point for data centre governance, maintenance, and operations.”
“Secondly, DCOS allows them to grow the certification scope and their process maturity level as and when the organization is ready, and the business requirements are there. This is not a ‘one-size-fits-all’ and ‘do-it-all-at-once’ standard. We expect DCOS soon to become the de facto standard for data centre operations,” said van Leent.
With the latest certification, TSTT’s Data Centre is now a TIA-942-B Rated 3, DCOS Maturity Level 3, and SOC Type 2 data centre. It is the only data centre in the region with this level of certification for facilities and operations. Additionally, TSTT owns and operates bCloud, the region’s first and only Vmware cloud verified service. This allows the company to offer a growing suite of cloud services from Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Backup as a Service (BaaS) to Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS), Video Communication as a Service (VcaaS), Unified Communication as a Service (UcaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS).
