Datum: Scale Your Business with High-Performance Data Centers
Datum provides high-performance, ultra-secure colocation services for enterprise and public sector clients seeking sustainable, carrier-neutral data centers.
Overview
Datum is a premier UK-based provider of colocation and data center services, specializing in delivering highly secure, resilient, and environmentally efficient infrastructure solutions. Founded in 2012, the company emerged to fill a gap in the market for enterprise-grade data centers that combine the security and connectivity of London-based facilities with the accessibility and cost-effectiveness of regional hubs. Datum operates flagship facilities, most notably in Farnborough and Manchester, which serve as critical nodes for digital business in the UK.
The company’s core service offering revolves around colocation—ranging from single racks to dedicated private suites—supported by a robust carrier-neutral network. Datum serves a diverse client base, including blue-chip enterprises, public sector organizations, and Managed Service Providers (MSPs) who require 24/7/365 availability for their business-critical applications. Following its acquisition by Teledata in 2022, Datum has expanded its footprint, positioning itself as a significant player in the UK’s regional data center market. Their focus remains steadfast on providing a secure "home" for IT equipment, characterized by high-density power capabilities and a strong emphasis on reducing the environmental impact of data processing. Through strategic investments in renewable energy and advanced cooling technologies, Datum has established itself as a leader in sustainable data center operations.
Positioning
Datum positions itself as the "Premium Regional Choice" for colocation in the UK. Their market strategy targets organizations that have outgrown small local server rooms but find the massive, "mega-scale" providers in London’s Docklands to be too expensive, rigid, or physically inaccessible. In their messaging, Datum emphasizes the "Best of Both Worlds": the security and connectivity standards of a Tier III+ facility with the personalized service and flexibility of a boutique provider.
Their competitive positioning is built on three pillars: Security, Service, and Sustainability. While competitors often lead with price or floor space, Datum leads with reliability and the quality of their facility management. They differentiate themselves from larger competitors like Equinix or Digital Realty by highlighting their "Service Excellence" and the fact that they are UK-owned and operated, which appeals to public sector and financial clients with strict data sovereignty and compliance requirements. By focusing on the "Service-Oriented Data Center" niche, Datum successfully competes against larger entities by offering faster deployment times, more flexible contract terms, and a superior customer experience that prioritizes the human element of infrastructure management.
Differentiation
The primary product differentiator for Datum is their "FRN" (Farnborough) and "MCR" (Manchester) facility designs, which are engineered specifically for high-density, mission-critical workloads. While many providers struggle with the cooling requirements of modern AI and high-performance computing (HPC), Datum’s infrastructure is built to support high-power densities (up to 30kW per rack) without requiring bespoke modifications.
Technically, Datum stands out through its multi-layered security protocols and its "Always On" resilience. Their facilities are designed to Tier III+ standards, utilizing 2N power distribution and highly efficient cooling systems that result in an industry-leading Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE). Another key innovation is their Connect platform, which provides a carrier-neutral ecosystem with diverse fiber paths and direct cloud on-ramps. This allows clients to build hybrid multi-cloud architectures with minimal latency. Furthermore, their bespoke "Service Level Agreement" (SLA) structures are among the most robust in the UK market, offering 100% uptime guarantees on power and environmental stability. By focusing on the intersection of high-density capability and environmental efficiency, Datum provides a technical environment that is future-proofed against the increasing demands of digital transformation.
Ideal Customer Profile
The ideal Datum customer is a mid-to-large enterprise (typically $500M+ revenue) operating in a data-intensive or highly regulated sector such as Finance, Healthcare, Government, or Energy. These organizations usually have a mature IT infrastructure but struggle with 'Data Chaos'—high volumes of undocumented data across multiple legacy and cloud systems. The ideal customer has an established or emerging Data Governance office and a technical team that values automation over manual spreadsheet-based tracking. They are looking for a platform that can scale from a single department to a global enterprise footprint.
Best Fit
- Complex Data Governance: Organizations struggling with fragmented data silos that need a single, unified 'source of truth' for business definitions.
- Highly Regulated Industries: Financial services, healthcare, and utilities that must demonstrate strict data lineage and compliance for GDPR or BCBS 239.
- ERP/CRM Migrations: Companies undergoing massive digital transformations (like moving to SAP S/4HANA) that need to clean and map data before migration.
- Business-IT Alignment: Situations where the business users and technical teams are 'speaking different languages' regarding data assets.
Offerings
- Datum Governance: The flagship platform focusing on data cataloging, business glossary, and policy management.
- Datum Quality: A specialized module for data profiling, rule-based cleansing, and ongoing quality monitoring.
- Datum Lineage: An advanced visualization engine that maps data flows across complex ETL and BI landscapes.
- Datum Professional Services: Tailored consulting packages to accelerate time-to-value and ensure best-practice implementation.
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Introduction
Welcome to the Comprehensive Buying Guide for Datum. In an era where data is an organization's most valuable asset, the ability to govern, discover, and trust that data is a competitive necessity. Datum provides a robust Enterprise Data Management platform designed to bridge the gap between technical data infrastructure and business outcomes. This guide is designed for IT leaders, Chief Data Officers, and Data Architects who need to understand how Datum’s capabilities—ranging from data discovery to complex lineage and governance—can solve their most pressing data challenges. You will learn about Datum's technical requirements, implementation strategy, and how it differentiates itself in a crowded data governance market.
Key Features
- Intelligent Data Discovery: Automatically scans and catalogs data assets across the enterprise, using AI to identify sensitive information and suggest business terms.
- End-to-End Data Lineage: Visualizes the journey of data from source to consumption, allowing users to perform impact analysis before making changes to upstream systems.
- Business Glossary & Catalog: Provides a collaborative environment where business users can define terms, ensuring consistent language across the entire organization.
- Data Quality Management: Implements automated profiling and monitoring to identify anomalies and ensure data meets predefined business standards.
- Policy & Compliance Engine: Automates the enforcement of data policies, ensuring that privacy regulations (like GDPR) are met through automated tagging and access controls.
- Stewardship Workflows: Built-in task management for data stewards to review, approve, and manage data assets and definitions.
Use Cases
- Regulatory Compliance (Banking): A global bank uses Datum to map data lineage for 'Critical Data Elements' to satisfy BCBS 239 requirements, reducing audit preparation time by 60%.
- Cloud Migration (Retail): A major retailer utilized Datum to catalog their legacy on-premise footprint, identifying 'ROT' (Redundant, Obsolete, Trivial) data and reducing migration costs by 30%.
- Self-Service Analytics (Manufacturing): By implementing Datum’s Business Glossary, a manufacturing firm enabled business analysts to find and trust data without IT intervention, doubling BI tool adoption.
- Mergers & Acquisitions: A healthcare conglomerate uses Datum to rapidly ingest metadata from newly acquired entities, providing an immediate view of the combined data landscape.
Pricing Models
- Subscription-Based Licensing: Typically billed annually based on the scale of the deployment.
- Primary Cost Drivers: The number of data sources/connectors, the volume of metadata processed, and the number of administrative/power users.
- Tiered Offerings: Often includes 'Professional' for mid-market or departmental use and 'Enterprise' for full-scale global deployments with advanced security and unlimited scale.
- Additional Costs: Implementation services, specialized training workshops, and premium support tiers (24/7/365).
Technical Requirements
- Deployment Options: Available as a fully managed SaaS solution or as a private cloud/on-premise deployment via Docker/Kubernetes.
- Browser Compatibility: Optimized for modern browsers including Chrome, Edge, and Safari.
- Connectivity: Requires network line-of-sight to internal data sources (via secure gateways for SaaS) and outbound access for API integrations.
- Resource Requirements (Self-Hosted): Minimum specifications for CPU, RAM, and Storage vary based on the volume of metadata being indexed.
Business Requirements
- Executive Sponsorship: Successful deployment requires a Chief Data Officer (CDO) or equivalent to drive adoption across departments.
- Data Stewardship Roles: Identification of 'Data Champions' within business units who will own the definitions and quality rules for their respective domains.
- Change Management: A willingness to shift from ad-hoc data handling to a structured, governed framework.
- Process Documentation: Existing (even if informal) understanding of current data workflows and pain points to prioritize the implementation roadmap.
Implementation Timeline
- Phase 1: Discovery & Strategy (Weeks 1-3): Identifying key data domains, stakeholders, and high-priority use cases.
- Phase 2: Platform Setup & Configuration (Weeks 4-6): Establishing the environment and configuring the meta-model to align with the organization's structure.
- Phase 3: Data Ingestion & Mapping (Weeks 7-12): Connecting to data sources, harvesting metadata, and establishing initial data lineage.
- Phase 4: Training & User Acceptance (Weeks 13-16): Onboarding data stewards and business users, refining workflows, and validating data quality rules.
- Phase 5: Go-Live & Scaling (Week 16+): Full rollout and expansion to additional business units.
Support Options
- Standard Support: Business-hour access to a helpdesk, knowledge base access, and regular software updates.
- Premium Support: 24/7 coverage for critical (P1) issues, dedicated account management, and quarterly business reviews.
- Professional Services: Expert consultants available for initial implementation, custom connector development, and data strategy advisory.
- Datum Academy: Comprehensive online training modules and certification programs for users and administrators.
Integration Requirements
- Universal Connectors: Ability to connect to major RDBMS (SQL Server, Oracle, Postgres), Cloud Data Warehouses (Snowflake, BigQuery), and ERP systems (SAP, Oracle EBS).
- API-First Architecture: RESTful APIs for pushing/pulling metadata to other enterprise tools like ServiceNow or Collibra.
- BI Tool Integration: Deep integration with PowerBI, Tableau, and Qlik to surface data lineage and 'trust scores' directly within reports.
- Data Quality Hooks: Integration with ETL/ELT tools (Informatica, Talend, dbt) to trigger quality checks during data movement.
Security & Compliance
- Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): Granular permissions to ensure users only see the metadata and data assets relevant to their role.
- Encryption: Full encryption of data at rest and in transit using industry-standard protocols.
- Certifications: Alignment with ISO 27001 standards and SOC 2 Type II compliance for cloud deployments.
- Audit Trails: Comprehensive logging of all user activities, metadata changes, and policy overrides for forensic and compliance reporting.
- Data Sovereignty: Options for regional data residency to comply with local privacy laws.
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