An Introductory Guide to Data Center Compliance

There are no major compliance standards that focus on data centers specifically. But that doesn't mean data centers have no role to play in compliance.

On the contrary, the way a business designs, operates and audits its data centers can be absolutely critical to its ability to meet the various compliance mandates it faces – such as HIPAA, PCI DSS and GDPR, to name just a few.

Read on for a guide to data center compliance, including where data centers fit within compliance strategies, as well as what data center operators and customers need to do to ensure data center compliance.

Data Centers and Compliance: An Overview

Data centers aren't always at the center of discussions about compliance because none of the major compliance frameworks include specific rules targeted at data centers – which is unsurprising given that compliance standards don't typically focus on specific technologies or technical domains. Instead, they aim to establish guidelines and best practices that organizations must follow no matter which technologies they use.

That said, any organization that uses data centers and is subject to compliance standards must ensure that its data center operations conform to compliance mandates. You can't be compliant in general if your data centers are not compliant.

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For example, the GDPR, a European Union regulation designed to protect personal data, includes rules that govern when and how businesses can transfer data outside of the European Union. This means that a business that operates multiple data centers – some within the E.U. and others outside it – must manage the ways that personal data flows between its various data centers.

As another example, HIPAA, the U.S. healthcare regulation, imposes rules that require adequate physical protections for sensitive healthcare data. For that reason, any data center that hosts data subject to HIPAA must implement reasonable physical security controls.

Strategies for Ensuring Data Center Compliance

Ensuring that your data center supports, rather than hinders, your compliance strategy can be challenging due precisely to the fact that compliance rules typically don't include specific requirements related to data centers.

As a result, determining exactly how to apply compliance standards to data centers can be tough. There is no simple checklist a business can follow to guarantee that its data centers comply with whichever compliance rules it needs to meet.

There are, however, several steps that companies – and data center operators – can take to support data center compliance. Here's a look at the main ones.

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1. Comply with voluntary compliance frameworks

Several compliance frameworks exist whose rules no organization has to meet, but which can help establish a healthy baseline for cybersecurity and data privacy. Key examples of this type of voluntary compliance framework include SOC 2 and ISO 27001.

Choosing to comply with these or a similar voluntary framework won't guarantee that your data centers are also compliant with regulatory frameworks like HIPAA or GDPR. But voluntary compliance provides an opportunity to establish best practices and identify security gaps that could trigger violations of non-voluntary compliance mandates.

2. Perform voluntary audits

Along similar lines, undergoing a voluntary audit is a good way to identify gaps in data center operations that could lead to compliance issues.

Data center operators can carry out audits using their own, internal audit teams, or they can outsource auditing to an external auditing provider. (In some cases, an external audit is required to prove that you meet a compliance standard, although internal audits may also be allowed, depending on which compliance certification you're seeking.)

3. Document assets and processes

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The more information you can share with auditors and regulators, the easier it is to prove that your data center is compliant with relevant standards. From seemingly mundane information like data center cable labels, to higher-stakes data like cybersecurity incident response operations, keep track of everything you own and do inside your data center.

4. Consider outsourcing data center operations

In cases where a business struggles to ensure that its data centers are compliant, outsourcing data center operations might be a wise choice. Outsourcing allows you to place responsibility for compliance in the hands of a third party. Make sure, of course, that any compliance standards you need to meet factor into the agreement you reach with the data center outsourcing company you hire.

5. Consider the cloud

When all else fails, moving workloads to the public cloud can simplify compliance. Although public cloud providers can't guarantee that all aspects of your workloads are compliant, they do handle the compliance responsibilities related to protecting physical infrastructure.

Migrating to the cloud comes with a set of tradeoffs, of course, and it includes challenges like reduced control over infrastructure. But for businesses struggling with compliance in a private data center, the cloud could make sense.

Making Data Centers a Cornerstone of Compliance

Data centers are only one component of compliance operations for most businesses. But they're often a critical one, given the foundational role that data centers play in hosting workloads. That's why it's smart for businesses that depend on data centers to take proactive steps to meet compliance mandates – such as voluntarily undergoing audits or, in some cases, outsourcing data center operations to companies more familiar with data center compliance requirements.