Data Center Certifications: SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI-DSS Explained

When evaluating data centers for AI workloads or any enterprise deployment, certifications and compliance attestations are critical. They provide third-party validation that a facility meets specific standards for security, availability, and operational excellence. But the alphabet soup of certifications — SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI-DSS, HIPAA, FedRAMP, NIST — can be overwhelming. This guide breaks down every major certification, what it actually validates, and which ones you need for your specific use case.

SOC 2 (Service Organization Control 2)

SOC 2 is the most commonly requested data center certification in the United States. Developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), SOC 2 audits evaluate an organization's controls across five Trust Services Criteria:

• Security: Protection against unauthorized access (physical and logical). This includes access controls, firewalls, intrusion detection, and encryption.
• Availability: System uptime and accessibility. This covers redundancy, disaster recovery, business continuity planning, and performance monitoring.
• Processing Integrity: Accuracy, completeness, and timeliness of system processing. Relevant for managed services but less critical for pure colocation.
• Confidentiality: Protection of information designated as confidential. Includes encryption, access restrictions, and data handling procedures.
• Privacy: Collection, use, retention, and disposal of personal information. Increasingly important with privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA.

SOC 2 Type I vs Type II

The critical distinction: Type I evaluates whether controls are properly designed at a specific point in time. Type II evaluates whether controls are operating effectively over a period of time (typically 6-12 months). Type II is significantly more rigorous and is what you should require from any data center provider. A facility with only a Type I report may have designed great controls but never proven they actually work consistently.

When You Need SOC 2

Virtually always. SOC 2 Type II should be the baseline requirement for any enterprise data center deployment. If a provider doesn't have a current SOC 2 Type II report, that's a significant red flag. Most enterprise procurement teams require it, and your own auditors will ask for it during your SOC 2 audit (the "subservice organization" question).

ISO 27001

ISO 27001 is the international standard for Information Security Management Systems (ISMS). Published by the International Organization for Standardization, it provides a systematic approach to managing sensitive information through risk assessment and treatment. While SOC 2 is most common in the US, ISO 27001 is the global standard and is particularly important for organizations with international operations.

• What it covers: ISO 27001 requires establishing, implementing, maintaining, and continually improving an information security management system. It includes 114 controls across 14 domains, covering everything from physical security to cryptography to supplier relationships.
• Certification process: An accredited certification body performs an initial audit, followed by annual surveillance audits and a full recertification every 3 years.
• Key difference from SOC 2: ISO 27001 certifies the management system, while SOC 2 attests to specific control effectiveness. They're complementary — many organizations hold both.

When You Need ISO 27001

Required for most international deployments, European customers, and any organization that does business with EU entities. Also increasingly required by large enterprise procurement teams globally. If you serve international markets, your data center should have ISO 27001 certification.

PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard)

PCI-DSS is mandatory for any organization that processes, stores, or transmits credit card data. Developed by the PCI Security Standards Council (founded by Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, and JCB), it defines specific security requirements across 12 high-level categories:

• Install and maintain a firewall configuration
• Do not use vendor-supplied defaults for system passwords
• Protect stored cardholder data
• Encrypt transmission of cardholder data across open networks
• Use and regularly update antivirus software
• Develop and maintain secure systems and applications
• Restrict access to cardholder data by business need-to-know
• Assign a unique ID to each person with computer access
• Restrict physical access to cardholder data
• Track and monitor all access to network resources and cardholder data
• Regularly test security systems and processes
• Maintain a policy that addresses information security

When You Need PCI-DSS

If your AI systems process payment data (e.g., fraud detection on transaction data, payment processing, e-commerce personalization), you need PCI-DSS compliant infrastructure. Even if you don't directly handle card data, if your systems share a network segment with payment systems, the data center needs to support PCI-DSS requirements. Most major colocation providers maintain PCI-DSS compliance as standard.

HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)

HIPAA compliance is required for any organization handling Protected Health Information (PHI) in the United States. Note that HIPAA doesn't have a formal "certification" — there's no HIPAA certificate to display. Instead, organizations must comply with HIPAA's Security Rule, Privacy Rule, and Breach Notification Rule, and can demonstrate compliance through assessments and documentation.

• Physical safeguards: Facility access controls, workstation use and security, device and media controls
• Technical safeguards: Access controls, audit controls, integrity controls, transmission security
• Business Associate Agreements (BAAs): Data center providers must sign a BAA that legally binds them to protect PHI. A provider unwilling to sign a BAA cannot be used for HIPAA-regulated workloads.

When You Need HIPAA

Any AI workload that processes health data — medical imaging analysis, clinical decision support, drug discovery, patient data analytics, health insurance processing — requires HIPAA-compliant infrastructure and a BAA with the data center provider.

FedRAMP (Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program)

FedRAMP provides a standardized approach to security assessment for cloud products and services used by US federal government agencies. There are three impact levels:

• Low: For systems where loss of confidentiality, integrity, or availability would have limited adverse effect
• Moderate: For systems where loss would have serious adverse effect (most federal systems)
• High: For systems where loss would have severe or catastrophic adverse effect (defense, law enforcement, emergency services)

When You Need FedRAMP

Required for any AI or cloud services sold to US federal government agencies. The FedRAMP authorization process is lengthy (12-18 months) and expensive ($1-3M+), so it's only worth pursuing if government is a significant market. However, colocation in a FedRAMP-authorized facility can simplify your own authorization process.

Uptime Institute Tier Certifications

While not a security certification, the Uptime Institute's Tier Standard is the most widely recognized framework for data center reliability:

• Tier I (99.671% uptime): Basic capacity, non-redundant. Approximately 28.8 hours of downtime per year.
• Tier II (99.741%): Redundant capacity components. Approximately 22 hours of downtime.
• Tier III (99.982%): Concurrently maintainable. All equipment can be maintained without taking the data center offline. Approximately 1.6 hours of downtime. This is the minimum for most enterprise and AI workloads.
• Tier IV (99.995%): Fault tolerant. The facility can sustain any single equipment failure without impact. Approximately 26 minutes of downtime. Required for the most critical workloads.

Additional Certifications

• ISO 50001: Energy management — demonstrates the facility operates an effective energy management system. Increasingly relevant for sustainability reporting.
• NIST 800-53: Security and privacy controls for federal information systems. The foundation for FedRAMP and widely used as a best-practice framework even outside government.
• CSA STAR: Cloud Security Alliance's Security, Trust, Assurance, and Risk registry. Provides transparency into cloud and data center security practices.
• SSAE 18: The auditing standard under which SOC reports are issued. Sometimes referenced alongside SOC 2.

Certification Checklist by Use Case

How to Verify Certifications

• Request the actual reports: Don't just take a provider's word for it. Request current SOC 2 Type II reports, ISO 27001 certificates, and PCI-DSS Attestation of Compliance (AOC) documents.
• Check dates: Certifications expire. An ISO 27001 certificate from 3 years ago that hasn't been recertified is worthless. SOC 2 reports should be from the last 12 months.
• Verify scope: Make sure the certification covers the specific facility and services you're using. A company might be SOC 2 certified for their managed services but not their colocation.
• Check the auditor: Reputable audit firms include the Big Four (Deloitte, PwC, EY, KPMG) and specialized firms like Schellman, A-LIGN, and Coalfire.

Browse certified facilities in our directory — we list certifications for every facility. Or learn about how to choose an AI data center beyond just certifications.