Facilities and Data Centre Management

Facilities Management refers to the management of the physical environment of IT Operations, usually located in Data Centres or computer rooms. This is a vast and complex area and this publication will provide an overview of its key role and activities. A more detailed overview is contained in Appendix E.

In many respects Facilities Management could be viewed as a function in its own right. However, because this publication is focused on where IT Operations are housed, it will cover Facilities Management specifically as it relates to the management of Data Centres and as a subset of the IT Operations Management function.

The main components of Facilities Management are as follows:

• Building Management, which refers to the maintenance and upkeep of the buildings that house the IT staff and Data Centre. Typical activities include cleaning, waste disposal, parking management and access control
• Equipment Hosting, which ensures that all special requirements are provided for the physical housing of equipment and the teams that support them
• Power Management, which refers to managing the sourcing and utilization of power sources that are used to keep the facility functional. This definition of Power Management has a number of implications, which are discussed in Appendix E. Note that information about power utilization is important for planning the capacity of both new services and new buildings
• Environmental Conditioning andAlertSystems, which include the specification, maintenance and monitoring of systems such as smoke detection and fire suppression, water, heating and cooling systems, etc.
• Safety is concerned with compliance to all legislation, standards and policies relative to the safety of employees
• Physical Access Controlrefers to ensuring that the facility is only accessed by authorized personnel and that any unauthorized access is detected and managed. This is discussed in more detail in Appendix F
• Shipping and Receiving refers to the management of all equipment, furniture, mail, etc. that leaves or enters the building. It ensures that only appropriate items are entering or leaving the building and that they are routed to the correct party
• Involvement in Contract Management of the various suppliers and service providers involved in the facility
• Maintenance refers to regular, scheduled upkeep of the facility, as well as the detection and resolution of problems with the facility.

Date: 2014-12-29; view: 879