RECAP | ROUNDTABLE | Creating a Data Center Staffing Plan

Participants at Inside Track’s March 18th roundtable Building a Data Center Staffing plan were understandably focused on one thing: the effects of Covid-19 on operations. During the roundtable, it was clear that participants had made significant changes to staffing plans to mitigate risk and support their organizations. Yet most made it clear that they were preparing for even more change.
Most roundtable participants found it necessary to:
• Limit access to the data center floor
• Train personnel on rounds to sanitize equipment
• Alter work schedules, with consequences for overtime and budgets
• Address concerns about vendor SLAs, particularly when third-party staff was involved
• Prepare signs and other warnings to alter behavior
• Prepare supplies, facilities and housing in case of long-term lockdowns
• When appropriate, shift loads to reduce the consequences of data center downtime
• Support work from home initiatives, even for mission-critical staff
• Defer maintenance
• Increase cleaning frequency
• Obtain specialized cleaning services
However, at least one smaller operator thought that many of these steps were out-of-reach for her operation, just because of scale.
One South Africa-based data center operator noted that his organization’s first moves were to “flatten” the facility staffing. This step, he noted, was made easier by the organization’s staffing structure. The company’s facilities incorporated a good deal of automation, as well as a team structure that made it easier to separate employees in the workplace (social distancing).
A North America-based telecom operator found also that having complete and up-to-date procedures had been a great help. He expected that this would be an asset that would grow in importance as the crisis worsens, especially if employees are forced to work in unfamiliar environments. Complete procedures, he said, would enable employees to familiarize themselves with doing work in new environments. He added that procedures would also make it easier for two-person teams to work together but at a distance, using video streaming services. In that way, a senior person could guide a less-person through a step-by-step activity.
A North America-based retailer agreed, while suggesting there was still time to be updating and re-examining existing procedures.
Earlier in the session, Uptime Institute Vice President, Facilities Management Services, Rich Van Loo, had described various staffing configurations followed by most data centers. Returning to this point, he noted that some facility teams would be more stressed by changes in procedures, assignments or reduced staffing levels. He noted that better trained, more experienced personnel would probably adapt better to the new stresses. He also noted that heavy dependency on third parties might be a liability if these firms cannot meet their service level agreements.
All agreed on this last point, with moderator Kevin Heslin noting that finding new service providers such as specialized cleaning services could become a big time consideration, as these companies were few and would be unlikely to scale up quickly enough to meet market demand.