A CULTURE OF CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
CRITICAL ENVIRONMENTS
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“ As the UK accelerates the adoption of digital technologies , all employees will require continuous training and retraining in order to build the skills needed by their organisations and apply them effectively ”
— Virtus Data Centres
blocks for effective maintenance , an inaccurate one will result in inefficiency or even equipment failures .” A good solution is to , paradoxically , schedule equipment replacements and upgrades before said equipment has broken down . The pace of innovation in the data centre industry means that , for the time being , the operational lifetime of a piece of equipment - be it a network switch , a cooling fan or an air handler - is longer than its effective lifecycle . In short , new technology is increasing in efficiency at a rate that means regularly upgrading data centre components produces a net efficiency that is greater than simply letting old parts run themselves into the ground before buying new ones .
A CULTURE OF CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
Even in a time where remote work is more common than ever , and automation is minimising the need for human interaction with facilities , relatively few data centres are fully ‘ lights out ’ operations . “ Humans are still required to install , maintain , and operate data centre facility systems ,” note Wooley and Donovan . “ Eliminating human error as the number one cause of system interruptions requires the hiring and development of competent , team-oriented people who embody the mission critical mentality .” Facilities management companies need to instil a culture of continuous improvement and education throughout their teams and executives if they are to successfully continue operating without disruption . “ Maximising availability and minimising
OCTOBER 2020