Another Data Center Pulse Group is Born!!!!

Hi Folks,

We've discovered over the last 2 months since Data Center Pulse (DCP) was founded that the demand for groups that focus on the future of the Data Center is high. As such, Dean and I decided to create a new group that anyone with Data Center interest can join "Data Center Pulse: Industry

The focus of this group will be to help provide immediate feedback to the original DCP group and also to solicit answers from DCP on questions posed by the industry.

Please read my preceeding post for more information on our DCP group. Also, you can expect to hear more from Dean and I as we further develop the framework for the two groups to work together.

Until next time,
Mark

Data Center Pulse is having an Event!!!!!

Well, things are really starting to pick up with Data Center Pulse (DCP). Our membership has passed the 310 mark, and we've got over 21 countries and 180 companies represented. Dean and I have been very busy getting the word out. The fact that we’ve managed to grow the community so quickly only proves the theory that Data Center folks aren’t being served effectively by only attending the current set of industry events. The membership of this group represents a significant portion of the industry spend on data centers and the talent that makes those same data centers work. That talent and the associated spend should be more effective when applied collectively through a forum like DCP. Dean & I have a deep belief that the future of the data center will involve considerable change for some time to come and we’d like Data Center Pulse to have a big part in how that eventual future develops. We’ve all benefited from conferences and organizations (Gartner, Data Center Dynamics, 7/24, Uptime, AFCOM, IDC, & others), and I will continue to participate in them. However, this group creates a new outlet for those of us who wish to participate in shaping the future of the data center.

Event Schedule
With the excitement and interest around DCP continuing to grow, Dean and I decided it was time to hold our first event. The date is Feb 17 & 18 (1 1/2 days) and it will be held somewhere in Silicon Valley. To spread the word about the conference we’ve emailed all our current members, if you aren’t already a member you should visit our website to learn more about the group and the upcoming event.

Event Content and Goals
We will be working with the DCP members to define discussion tracks and we're also taking questions from vendors. If you’re a vendor partner and would like to participate, please complete the survey on our website. Your questions will be reviewed for potential inclusion in one or more of the conference tracks. This should turn out to be an excellent chance for everyone to have their voice heard.

Getting the Word Out
Please continue to invite friends and spread the word. Our power is in our collective experience and brain power, backed by our potential spend with our vendor partners.

I Love This Stuff
Personally I’m really looking forward to this event. I've spent the last 20+ years working in, managing, or building Data Centers. So this opportunity to meet members of DCP and to collaborate on ideas and strategies on the future of the data center is something that I wouldn’t miss.

Updates on my recent activites

Suffice it to say, I've been BUSY!!!!

We're in the middle of building our new Data Center in Washington and I've been busy with Dean Nelson developing the opportunities associated with Data Center Pulse (datacenterpulse.com).

A quick note on the Data Center project:

It's a big deal for us. The first two spaces are roughly 16K SF each and we have first right of refusal to three additional spaces. Total potential DC floor space is about 80K SF.

We're doing some pretty cool stuff from a building and MEP (Mechanical, Electrical & Plumbing) perspective and of course our virtual infrastructure will play a big role in site efficiency as well.

I can't say what the PUE rating will be yet, but we're implementing significant monitoring in order to capture detailed real-time data about how the environment is operating. I'm hoping for a PUE of <1.5.

The project is in the final phases now and as with most big projects some things have gone well and some haven't. We have several groups involved in the project and generally coordination is excellent. However, there are some peripheral teams that are fairly detached from the day to day project activity and this has caused a few headaches (lesson learned; don't ever allow anyone to talk you out of having a single leader with direct ownership of all resources).

Mostly though things are going as well as can be expected. We're under budget, and on target from a date perspective.

Some of the cool features include but aren't limited to:
- Hot Aisle containment
- Grey Water system
- LEED certification (external and internal)
- Power monitoring from the street to the rack PDU
- Comprehensive BMS system
- Hot air from the data center will be used to heat the office areas
- and more

There's still much more that can be done with a data center. However, this one should be a very nice facility considering the budget and original objectives.

Data Center Pulse (datacenterpulse.com & LinkedIn groups)

This is growing like a weed. We're now at almost 300 members and people continue to join. We have lots of ideas for how to take "positive" advantage of the information generated by all the smart folks in the group. Including doing videocasts that get posted to Datacenterpulse.com and striping content from discussions and developing recommendations or strategies from it for posting on the web site. Our primary goal here is to influence the industry in a positive way. We believe the only way for us to influence the industry and our peers effectively is if we can stay vendor agnostic. We also believe there's no way for us to stay agnostic if we accept funds from vendors or if we allow sales or marketing folks on the board.

If you're interested in joining you can get to the group via the web site (datacenterpulse.com) or by going directly to Linkedin and requesting to join there.

DC Pulse Update

Our goal is to build this global community to 1000 strong by the end of 2008.

The more DC professionals we can add, the better. To achieve this goal, we could use your help in recruiting for this community. If you would like to participate, please request to join the Data Center Pulse Group. Then, plan to bring it to the table... :-)

All others can reach this community even if they are not in the group. You can submit questions to be posed by forwarding them to Mark Thiele, (mthiele@vmware.com) Director of R&D Business Operations from VMware or my DCP co-chair, Dean Nelson, (dean.nelson@sun.com).

Data Center Pulse: The Community

Hi Folks,

It's been quite a while since my last post, my apologies. I've been extremely busy with the building of VMware's new state of the art facility in Washinton and haven't had the chance to maintain my personal blog.

The primary reason for this post though was to mention a new Community that Dean Nelson (Sun Microsystems) and I have created on Linkedin (Data Center Pulse).

http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=841187&trk=hb_side_g

If you work in or around data centers and aren't a consultant or sales person please check out the new group and request membership.

Thanks,
Mark

The Data Center is the Computer: Step 5 of 9

Step 5 of my 9 step process:
Step 1: Measure
Step 2: Develop an action plan
Step 3: Prioritize Opportunities
Step 4: Create "Program of Improvement" with ROI and timeline
Step 5: Obtain approval for your initial project (from the Program of Improvement plan)
Step 6: Implementation Strategy
Step 7: Implementation Partners
Step 8: Communication
Step 9: On-going Operational Improvement based on a "Total Improvement Plan"

Obtaining Approval:
If you've done most of what's required in steps 1 - 4, the approval process should be a snap. The Executive Summary of your work to-date should include the following information

• Need & Vision: What were the driving factors behind this project and what's the short and long term vision post project completion.
• Benefit: What will the benefit of a successful project be for the business? It's very important to spell the benefits out in business terms; how will this reduce the bottom line costs of IT, enable high availability and improved Disaster Avoidance and Recovery Plans (DARP), provide for rapid system deployment and allow for IT to report on the availability of "Data Center" capacity as opposed to individual application infrastructure capacity.
• Risks: Risks of project failure and the risks if the project isn't approved. Be realistic here, most execs will applaud your honesty.
• Timeline and Resources: Be very clear and detailed with what you think the timeline is (in bite sized chunks) and about the resources (People, money, etc) that you'll need.

Don't be afraid to show the proposal to more people. If it can't stand the light of day, then you're probably doing something wrong. Be prepared to backup and justify the project with your personal conviction. In the end, most execs want to know how you really feel about the project and whether you're passionate about it. Lastly, don't be surprised if you have to repeat yourself. It's quite common to have to present projects 3 or 4 times to the same people before they really begin to understand and buyoff on it (they actually start evangelizing it themselves as their idea).

until next week....

Step 4 of my 9 step process:
Step 1: Measure
Step 2: Develop an action plan
Step 3: Prioritize Opportunities
Step 4: Create "Program of Improvement" with ROI and timeline
Step 5: Obtain approval for your initial project (from the Program of Improvement plan)
Step 6: Implementation Strategy
Step 7: Implementation Partners
Step 8: Communication
Step 9: On-going Operational Improvement based on a "Total Improvement Plan"

Now that you've prioritized your opportunities you need to create a "Program of Improvement". This process can be something as simple as a high level project plan to something much more comprehensive. My recommendation is to build your plan based on a combination of factors;

Complexity -

Are there geographic issues, how many partners do you have to work with, are there corporate business related drivers that need to be accommodated (product release or end of quarter, etc.)

Cost vs. ROI -

How much do you have to spend in time and money to recover how much? Building out a solid proposal for action will also help ensure you have the before and after picture covered. The before and after is critical to getting the credit and recognition your team deserves.

Team size and skill sets -

If you have a small team and relatively simple systems architecture than you can probably get away with a simple plan that covers primary milestones and critical path issues. Don't forget that "investigation/planning" and "communication" are the most important parts of any good project plan. If you have a larger team and systems with multiple external dependencies then you really should put together a detailed plan that accommodates the majority of potential risks.

Recognition and rewards -

Plan for breaks in the action. It's very important to celebrate your successes before moving on to the next opportunity or challenge.

Communicate, Communicate, Communicate -

You can't over communicate your plans. The more people understand about what you're doing the more support and understanding you'll get in return.

Until next week >>>