5 Questions to Ask When Choosing a Data Centre

Choosing a data centre is a long-term infrastructure decision, often made before you know exactly how your requirements will change. 

Available space and price matter, but they are only part of the picture. The right data centre should support what you need today, give you a credible path for growth and provide confidence in the infrastructure and people protecting your environment. 

Use these five questions as a checklist when assessing your options. 

1. Can it support what you need today, and what comes next? 

Start with your current requirements, then look further ahead. 

Check: 

• How much capacity is available today? 
• What capacity is planned or already secured for future growth? 
• Can you expand around your existing deployment? 
• Can the facility accommodate different rack densities, reference architectures and cooling requirements? 
• What would expansion involve in cost, lead time or migration? 

A provider should be able to show you a realistic capacity roadmap, not simply tell you there is room today. 

Flexibility matters here. At Macquarie Data Centres, we design our facilities to accommodate different reference architectures and support air, liquid and hybrid cooling options for increasingly high-density environments. Capacity needs vary from one deployment to the next. Get in touch and we can walk you through what is available today and what is planned as your requirements grow. 

2. Is the facility designed for resilience?

A data centre houses infrastructure your organisation relies on. Understanding how the facility has been designed and operated to remain available should therefore be fundamental to your assessment. 

Check: 

• How are power and cooling systems made resilient?
• Can critical infrastructure be maintained without disrupting your environment?
• What uptime commitment does the provider make?
• What is its operational track record?
• Are its design and resilience claims independently validated?

Look beyond headline terminology. Ask how the design translates into continuity for your specific deployment. 

Macquarie Data Centres’ facilities are Tier III certified and designed for concurrent maintainability, allowing critical infrastructure to be maintained without shutting down customer environments. We have proudly maintained a 100% uptime track record for more than 25 years. 

3. Can it demonstrate security, compliance and control? 

Security extends beyond the racks themselves. 

The physical facility, the people operating it, the systems used to manage it and the jurisdiction governing the provider can all affect your risk profile. 

Check: 

• Who owns and operates the data centre?
• Where will your infrastructure and data be located?
• Who can access the facility and your environment?
• What physical and cyber security controls are in place?
• Which certifications and regulatory requirements apply to the facility and service you are buying?
• What level of control do you retain over where your data is stored and which jurisdictions may apply?

Certifications provide useful independent evidence, but their scope matters. Make sure the credentials being presented actually cover your environment and requirements. 

For organisations in regulated or risk-sensitive sectors, sovereignty can also be an important consideration. Macquarie Data Centres is Australian owned and operates its own facilities, including ownership of the land, core and shell and operations. Our data centres are Certified Strategic under the Australian Government’s Hosting Certification Framework and supports government, Defence and critical infrastructure environments. 

4. Who will be there when you need support? 

Infrastructure matters. So do the people operating it. 

A strong data centre relationship should give you access to experienced local teams who understand the facility and can respond when something changes or goes wrong. 

Check: 

• Is operational support available 24×7?
• What remote-hands or engineering support is available?
• Who responds to incidents?
• What are the escalation processes and response expectations?
• Does the provider have the technical expertise to support complex and high-density environments?

The quality of the operating model is often easiest to see when conditions are not routine. 

Macquarie Data Centres provides 24×7×365 hands-and-feet engineering support and has hundreds of Australian Government security-cleared engineers supporting its environments. That operational capability sits in-house rather than being outsourced to an unrelated operator. 

5. Is this a provider you can grow with? 

Your requirements may look very different in three, five or ten years. 

That makes the provider’s investment roadmap, technical capability and track record just as important as the space you are considering today. 

Check: 

• Is the provider continuing to invest in capacity and infrastructure?
• Can its facilities accommodate changing technologies and architectures?
• Does it have experience supporting organisations with similar availability, security and scale requirements?
• Can it support expansion without forcing unnecessary infrastructure moves?
• Can it offer the connectivity and commercial flexibility your architecture requires?

The goal isn’t to predict every future requirement. It is to choose an environment that gives you options. 

Macquarie Data Centres combines flexible deployment and commercial models with carrier-neutral facilities, diverse connectivity and infrastructure designed to support enterprise, government, cloud, hyperscale and increasingly high-density AI environments. As part of the ASX-listed Macquarie Technology Group, customers also gain access to broader Australian technology, cybersecurity and cloud capability alongside their data centre environment. 

Choose infrastructure with room to move.

The right data centre should give you confidence in the infrastructure you are deploying now and a clear path for what comes next. 

Looking for a data centre partner that can support your infrastructure today and as your requirements evolve? Macquarie Data Centres provides secure, resilient and scalable data centre solutions for hyperscale, enterprise, government and cloud environments. 

Contact us to discuss your requirements, learn more about our team, or request a tour to see our facilities firsthand. 

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I look for when choosing a data centre provider?

Look at resilience, available and future capacity, security and compliance, operational support, connectivity and the provider’s ability to support your organisation as requirements change.

Why is Tier III certification important in a data centre?

Tier III certification provides independent assurance that a facility is designed for concurrent maintainability, helping reduce the risk of planned maintenance affecting customer environments.

How important is data sovereignty when choosing a data centre?

Data sovereignty is particularly important for organisations with regulatory, security or risk requirements. Buyers should understand where their data is stored, who can access it, which jurisdictions apply and who owns and operates the underlying infrastructure.

How do I know if a data centre can support future growth?

Ask about current available capacity, committed expansion, power and cooling capability, rack density limits and whether you can expand within the same facility without unnecessary migration.

What support should a data centre provider offer?

Look for 24×7 operational support, clear incident and escalation processes, remote-hands capability and access to experienced technical teams who understand the facility and your environment.