Data is the new currency of the digital world and for businesses to thrive today, it is imperative they start handling the information they process daily more effectively. This requires having the right infrastructure in place and the expertise to maintain it, all while abiding within the legal and regulatory frameworks that govern the use, storage, and transmission of data.

Start-ups and medium-sized organisations can easily find themselves in the possession of vast amounts of data, resulting in a situation where it is impractical for them to manage this data internally. This applies to a greater extent to larger companies, such as those operating in the financial services or remote gaming sectors, where the sheer quantity, complexity, and sensitivity of the information they process make data hosting and management an impossible feat to pull off independently.

Nowadays, almost every business is a data business. This means that executives today are all facing the same dilemma: focus on the core service or product they offer to their customers, or go down the data rabbit hole. In practice, this means there are two sides to every company and the difference between them is so dramatic, you could almost argue that a company is really two businesses rolled in one.

Jack Mizzi

The problem here is that you can’t run a data business the same way you run your primary business. This is because data hosting brings with it a unique set of demands and requirements, which in turn are linked to a body of regulations that impose new legal obligations on businesses.

These obligations require significant capital and human resources to fulfil, which often come at the expense of the company’s main business, thus seriously limiting its growth and derailing it from its core mission. The benefits of outsourcing business data needs to a data centre are well-known, especially from a cost-effectiveness perspective.

Data hosting brings with it a unique set of demands and requirements

Another advantage of entrusting business data hosting to an experienced third-party firm of good repute is that it offers organisations additional layers of legal protection. This minimises a company’s exposure to potential lawsuits due to gross negligence and can absolve your business from responsibilities it was never intended to handle.

A quick look at a basic data centre offering shows that 24/7 technical access, 99 per cent plus uptime guarantee and daily data backups are standard features across the board. The question this raises is: can your business ensure a similar level of service in-house with regards to the data it manages? If not, then the only logical alternative is to outsource your data management requirements, because it’s too risky to contemplate all the things that could wrong if a company is inadequately prepared to store and manage information.

There are four major ways your business could end up getting sued because of mismanaged data. First, while it’s a given that most companies will spare no expense in setting up a high-end IT infrastructure, the real challenge is maintaining it throughout its use: repairing and replacing parts, upgrading the hardware and software, and hiring and training people to carry out these duties. The presence of outdated or vulnerable technology could be disastrous in the eventuality of a lawsuit after a data breach, potentially exposing you to accusations of negligence.

Inconsistent backups, a lack of redundancy measures built into your system, and the absence of a disaster recovery plan might also make you liable should an incident happen, not to mention disrupting your core business and impacting your ability to serve customers in a timely and appropriate fashion. In itself, this raises the risk of being implicated in further legal wrangling.

Data centres are aware of these scenarios, as well as many others, and offer business owners the convenience of advanced, stress-tested mechanisms that will mitigate the risk of online threats and attacks, as well as minimise any subsequent disruption and data loss that would ensue if a breach were to occur.

BMIT, Malta’s largest data centre, offers businesses of all sizes affordable access to high-end data security technology that few companies would be able to implement and run themselves at a feasible cost. This is all done while complementing the technical infrastructure with experienced staff that is knowledgeable about the management and maintenance of complex server networks, and threat mitigation. Data hosting and management services are available in a variety of types and packages that can be individually scaled to your company’s current requirements, and then continuously adapted to its changing needs throughout the entire lifecycle.

Co-location allows any business to privately host its data at one of BMIT’s secure, state-of-the-art facilities, giving them worldwide accessibility to information stored on their own servers through a high-performance and ISO-certified network. Cloud computing and storage services offer added flexibility, while also ensuring maximum legal compliance through comprehensive data protection systems that protect your organisation against business interruption, afford higher levels of security, and reduce overall risk exposure.

For more information visit www.bmit.com.mt.