IT-Related Considerations When Selecting a Serviced Office Provider

Compared to leasing your own space, there are pros and cons to setting up your firm within a serviced office provider. Some of the business benefits include reduced setup costs, increased speed to market, scalability and agility. But, from a technology standpoint, it can mean an additional link or risk in your firm’s technology supply chain.

We’ve put together some points to consider when selecting a serviced office provider space:

Connectivity is your business’ umbilical cord to connect and consume technology services. Therefore, it’s essential that we ensure connectivity in a serviced office provider’s building meets a high standard. While internet providers are continuously improving their service, there is always the risk that on a rare occasion, a carrier or the building could have a connectivity issue, leading to an outage.

• Is there a resilient internet service (i.e. primary and secondary circuits)?
• Are the primary and secondary internet services delivered by different carriers?
• Are all circuits symmetrical (i.e. upload = download)?
• Is availability and consumption monitored by the serviced office provider?
• Does physical cabling enter the building via diverse routes (i.e. not the same point of entry)?
• Is the failover mechanism between primary and secondary circuits automatic?
• Can bandwidth be allocated for the sole use of your business?
• How is bandwidth allocated to your firm preserved from other tenants? Considering your firms technology profile, an estimated per user bandwidth will be provided. For context, a web-based OMS/PMS may require 5MB per active user.

The communications (“comms”) room is the technological hub of any office building. There may be more than one comms room depending on the scale and shape of a building. Network equipment is deployed, enabling end-to-end support and security. Serviced office providers’ comms rooms are used to rack/host this equipment.

• What is the per U (measurement of space in a rack) cost?
• Are UPS’s in place? If so, what are they protecting – ISP equipment?
• What is the runtime of UPS’s?
• When were they last tested or used in real-world outages?
• When and how can Abacus access the building’s comms room?
• What access control is in place to secure the comms room and offices?
• Are any of the following in place: environment monitoring, fire suppression, air conditioning?