Bridging the Gap between DC Operations & Facilities

Data Centers always seem to be what I come back to. I guess I have a strong opinion about how a resource as big and expensive as a data center should be handled.

What do I mean by "Bridging the Gap?"

Recently more and more Bloggers & Analysts have started jumping on the bandwaggon of the need to develop staffing roles that fill the gap between what the average Data Center Operations manager knows and what a Facilities person knows. I've been worried about this problem for some time. In October last year I was able to develop and justify a new position "Global DC & Lab Space Efficiency Manager". Funny how these things work, but within days of hiring this person no one could figure out how we had managed without it.

We're several months into the project to build a new Data Center and this new role has been crucial to filling the void of information between the traditional IT & Facilities roles. Following are some of the areas that have proven this Gap theory;
- Carbon Emissions measurement
- Outside Air or Water Economizing for HVAC systems
- Finding efficiency improvements in the electrical system
- Identifying current DC standards initiatives in Europe & the America's (EU DC Standards & Green Grid are examples)

Any or all of the above are things that might normally be missed or ignored in a Data Center project. Yet, when you're building a facility that will eventually have 30-40 MW of power and 20,000 plus systems any small improvement means real dollars and a greener Data Center.

I'll be speaking about these issues in several upcoming events.
- Uptime Institute (Orlando April 27th - 30th)
- Emerson DC User Group (Tampa May 1st)

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this issue. I will surely be writting more in the near future.