Recently I received my consolidated invoice for my communication services at home, which covers my phone, Internet and TV costs. I think the company I subscribe to for these services spends a lot of money on marketing because every other month the total cost of the bill is different and they have to include a one hundred page break down of the charges to help me understand it. Sure enough hidden amongst those pages are charges for services I know I cancelled months ago. After paying the absurd amount for the services, they kindly award me a credit. I am sure I am in the same boat with most people when I say that we need to watch our spending.

A corporation is no different. I bet most companies do not even know what they spend on communications, or what half the billing is for, especially wireless services. Lines that got ordered over the years were never disconnected once the service that used them dissolved.  As a manager, this is a task we all need to do. We need to get out our fine toothed comb, and ensure that our spending and billing is proportionate to the services provided.   I am not suggesting you send your communication bills to me, but it sure feels good to see a credit on the next month’s bill.

Mark Yetman
Director Managed Services

I can’t believe summer has come and gone again. Appears we did not have much of a summer and now winter is brewing. I don’t like the change of seasons, you have to put your light summer wear away and dig out all your winter stuff. Just the sight of my winter jacket gives me a tingle up my spine…I hate winter PERIOD…give me a warm beach and sun any day.

Maybe this is why I am not a fan of working in Data Centers, you always need to put on a sweater or light jacket if you plan to be in there too long. I do enjoy building them but who ever thought they needed to be run at 60-68 degrees anyway? I suspect this thinking is a throw back to the days cooling technology was not very reliable or efficient. It was better to have the room so cold you could hang meat and endure a short outage on your HVAC system rather than actually considering your utility bill!

As time went on people just assumed this is where you set your thermostat. There is a lot of discussion these days around Green Data Centers. Everyone is buzzing about raising the temperature and the potential impact this may have to equipment efficiency and longevity. Well the reality is most companies will refresh their server farms every couple years and the equipment being installed today is a lot more efficient then the equipment of days gone by. They are designed to run hotter and can handle the higher a set point of your thermostats.

So let’s all take a walk into our Data Centers and move the thermostat up to 76-78 degrees…if anyone asks tell them your Data Center is a shade of Green now. Best part is you will save 4-5% of your utility bill per degree and won’t have to endure winter every time you enter your Data Centre.

Mark Yetman
Director Managed Services

Ah the end of October…it is like the holy grail of the year for kids. All they can think about is how much candy they will get. It is kinda funny, having kids of my own; I know how excited they get. They want to hit as many houses as possible and get the loot…then two weeks later they seem to have lost interest and my cupboard is full of candy no one wants and has soon forgotten.

Reminds me of some of the Data Centers I have had a chance to visit. Like my closet space Data Center always seem to be short on space. The Business is always asking for more resources which means more gear to procure and install putting more strain on the facility. There is so much discussion around server virtualization that everyone seems to believe this is their savior. They seem to believe they can virtualize everything to a single magical box that will have all the resources they need to run all their current and future needs. There will be no problem powering or cooling this box because it is magic. Isn’t it wonderful – not!

I can say every tour I go on, no matter the age of the Data Center, there is always old legacy equipment in valuable rack space running with no application use. They were deemed obsolete but just did not get shut down and recycled as of yet. It has been my experience, before anyone starts to plan for a new Data Center, they should spend some quality time looking in the current racks. Question every box and ask the tough questions, “What does this do and why do I need it?”

I bet every Data Center out there has 20% of their space wasted on obsolete equipment. Wasting space, power and preventing growth leads to critical funding being spent on new facilities. With a little creative cleaning any Facility Manager can find a location to install that magic virtual box and satisfy all his business needs while saving a little money on wasted resources. Don’t you love garbage day?

Mark Yetman
Director Managed Services