Tips to improve the facilities management process
There are a number of simple actions that can be taken to improve the facilities management process. Here are some tips:
- Nurture relationships with the facilities department
- Establish relationships with local government inspecting agencies, especially if considering major physical upgrades to the data centre
- Consider use of video cameras to enhance physical security
- Analyse environmental monitoring reports to identify trends, patterns and relationships
- Check on effectiveness of water and fire detection and suppression systems
- Remove all tripping hazards in a computer centre
- Check on earthquake preparedness of data centre in earthquake zone (devices anchored down, training of personnel, tie-in to disaster recovery)
Establishing good relationships with key support departments such as the facilities department and local government inspecting agencies can help keep maintenance and expansion plans on schedule. This can also lead to a greater understanding of what the infrastructure group can do to enable both of these agencies to better serve the IT department.
Video cameras have been around for a long time to enhance and streamline physical security. Occasionally overlooked is the quality of the tape and recording. The playback mechanism should also be checked to ensure playback is actually possible. Another item to check is the environmental recording device. Many of these are quite sophisticated and collect a wealth of data about temperature, humidity, purity of air, hazardous vapours and other environmental measurements. The data is only as valuable as the effort expended to analyse it for trends, patterns and relationships. A reasonably thorough analysis should be done on this type of data quarterly.
In my experience, most workplaces do a good job of periodically testing the backup electrical systems such as UPS, batteries, generators, and power distribution units (PDUs), but less so on fire detection and suppression systems. This is partly due to the huge capital investment electrical backup systems require, and managers wanting to ensure a return on such a sizable outlay of cash. Maintenance contracts for these systems frequently include inspection and testing, at least at the outset. But this is seldom the case with fire detection and suppression systems. Infrastructure personnel need to be proactive in this regard by insisting on regularly scheduled inspections and maintenance of these systems. This also includes up-to-date evacuation plans.
