7x24 2015 Fall Magazine

61 / 88

61
viawest also looks at the overall
operational state of a unit, and uses
a CMMs to do a detailed analysis of
all unplanned repairs. was the event
discovered when a technician was
executing a pM or monitoring
equipment during rounds; or did a
customer notify the team? beyond
that discovery, what was the type of
repair and how well did the
technician perform? viawest takes
those data points and looks for
inconsistencies that can lead to
predictive action. the age of the
equipment, frequency of events
over the year, and the severity of
each event contribute to the
decisions around replacing
equipment or based on the
technician scorecard, renegotiating
service contracts.
AUDIT/COMPLIANCE
MANAGEMENT
regulatory demands, client
certification needs, and evolving
legislation all challenge the ability
of data center mangers to address
compliance issues and respond to
audits. with a CMMs in place,
documentation and reports on
maintenance activity can be pulled
at a moment’s notice, making
managers audit-ready at any time.
at an in-house data center for one
financial services company, for
example, the CMMs made it
possible for managers to quickly
respond to auditor’s questions
about maintenance compliance with
sarbanes-oxley act (soX)
regulations. as part of the process,
auditors wanted to know exactly
what type of pMs have been
performed on backup generators
used for maintaining the ups at the
data center. the chief facilities
engineer tapped the CMMs to
produce reports showing all the
pMs completed during specific time
periods, as well as upcoming pMs
planned for the future.
the need for optimal infrastructure
maintenance will continue to rise as
data centers age and face new
technological challenges. and a
modern CMMs – with its preventive
and predictive maintenance, asset
capital planning, and audit-
managing capabilities – will also
continue to become intertwined
with all the other mission-critical
systems that keep data centers
running in peak condition.
Paul Lachance is President and Chief Technology Officer for Smartware Group, Inc. He can be reached at