Mr. Gbenga Adegbiji, General Manager, MDX-I, the MainOne Data Centre subsidiary company has said it is not difficult for banks or telecoms operators in Nigeria to attain Tier III standards for their data centres.
The Uptime Institute’s Tier Certification is a performance-based evaluation of a data centre’s specific infrastructure, according to the MainOne exec, who said that the company and a few other operators have been able to attain the rigorous Tier III certification for their facilities.
“The Tier III Certification implies that the Data Centre is concurrently maintainable, which means the facility requires no shutdowns for equipment replacement and maintenance. A redundant delivery path for power and cooling is added to the redundant critical components of Tier I and II; dedicated site infrastructure, IT space, interruptible power and cooling”, Adegbiji told newsmen recently at the company’s office.

According to him, “Data Centre infrastructure costs and operational complexities increase with the Tier level, which is why some people say it is difficult for banks and telecoms companies to operate. While I admit that it is difficult and near impossible for a renovated and ad-hoc Data rooms to obtain this certification, a well-designed and purpose-built Data Centre is expected to have operational sustainability embedded in it and so should not have difficulties going through the rigorous certification exercise.”
Adegbiji explained that Data Centre construction and management are better handled by experts who are well trained in its operations and the maintenance of its complex infrastructure.
“Enterprises, including banks and manufacturing companies should focus on their core competencies and allow providers such as MainOne to provide the enabling infrastructure for business development and growth”, he added underscoring the need for them to outsource those aspects of their operations.
“The MDX-I Lekki Data Centre was designed and built in line with the TIA-942 standards (which is the international specifications to which global Data Centers are designed). Our operational processes are developed with good knowledge of our operating environment and benchmarked with international standards. This is why we did not just attain the Uptime Tier III certification, we also obtained the ISO 27001 and the PCIDSS certifications”, he adds.