Failure to Document Processes and Procedures

Last month we discussed the importance of not overlooking operations and relying solely on data center design for continuous system up-time and optimum performance. The backbone of maintaining and growing the staff-based systems and procedures is documentation.

One of the least exciting elements of data center operations is documentation. There are procedures for everything imaginable within the operations of a company, but proper documentation of all actions, in a traceable and systematic way, often gets overlooked. Documentation, whether performed manually or as part of a robust reporting system contained within infrastructures, must be performed in a such way that data center operations can easily access the information and use it for testing scenarios and training personnel.

Over the lifetime of the data center, the information can be very impactful for migration, decommissioning, and construction of additional data centers and systems.

Documentation is not only related to critical system errors, or vital system maintenance and testing. Truly useful documentation will cover everything from equipment lists, purchases, and changes, to daily systems checks and updates.