Abraham Maslow, one of the founding members of humanistic psychology, outlined a ‘hierarchy of needs’ in an influential paper, wherein the fundamental premise was that any social grouping moved through a set of developments from ‘basic needs’ to ‘emotional fulfilment’ in the form of a pyramid. The lowest 4 needs are referred to as deficiency needs that are there because of lack of something and they need to be satisfied first in order to move on to higher level needs.

Maslow’s research describes what drives individuals in general but is it possible to apply it to businesses, particular to datacenter businesses? Yes and in fact, applying Maslow’s hierarchy to organizations offer a powerful insight into business prioritization. Business priorities, especially of Datacenters, could be defined as analogous frameworks to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Using the Maslow framework, business priorities could be aligned and determined. So, how does it all relate to your choice of datacenter? Data are the brain of the company and data center, where your critical resources are housed, is a significant investment for your company. It is really important that you choose a right colocation service provide to ensure a good return on your investments. The colocation provider should be able to help you run your business effectively and also support the growing needs of your business. Even if they all may appear similar, all datacenters are not equal. By applying Maslow’s hierarchy of need to the colocation partner in choice, you would be able to reassess where they stand and that would help you narrow down on the best colocation facility depending on the needs of your business.

The first need which finds mention in Maslow’s ‘hierarchy of needs’ is the physical need. For colocation provider that would mean fulfilment of basic needs required of a colocation provider. The physiological needs which you should look for are uptime and availability. Check whether they have good provision for connectivity, power and cooling.

The safety need should be derived from whether or not the colocation center is safe and protected, both from natural and cyber-attacks. The colocation provider should be prepared to face any kind of disaster without any disruption to your business.


The next step would be to look for the vision of your colocation provider. As your company grows, your colocation provider should be able to scale with you.

At the highest level sits the strategy. What is the competitive edge that the provider is offering you?

If you are on a lookout for a colocation provider that would fulfil all business hierarchical needs while providing a competitive edge, Data Facilities is your answer which is a global provider of premium carrier-neutral Datacenters & Hosting Services. With strategically located datacenters in The Netherlands in Spijkenisse and The Hague, Data Facilities offers superior flexibility, security and operational proficiency. With hybrid infrastructure, remote-IX access, and worldwide partner network, Data Facilities is changing the landscape of colocation services for good. To learn more about Data Facilities Data Centers, visit https://www.datafacilities.nl/