Colo-Understanding and Commanding the Move (as printed in the AFCOM Journal)
Assuming that you have identified the colocation provider(s) you wish to engage as a landlord, what’s next? First and foremost, it is essential to have someone (one being the operative part of that word) in charge of the move. This person, we will call the MPM (Move Project Manager), will need to coordinate with the various specialties involved before the contract dotted line gains a signature. This person may or may not be an employee, but is instrumental in bridging the silos between departments and making sure that surprises don’t happen (or at least are kept to a minimum). This should not be a position with all responsibility and no authority. Rather, this should be someone that can speak for the organization, the departments and liaise with the colocation provider, designers and the other stakeholders in the move.
Let’s face it; not all companies have move project management expertise in house. Not all colos are going to have on-staff project managers to assist with all aspects of the move. There are many companies out there that specialize in parts of the move. But ONE dedicated person (with a backup) that can work throughout the entire process from selection to go-live is going to provide tremendous value. Too often, assumptions get made that people are doing their tasks, but we all work at least 40 hours a week, and things do slip through the cracks.
Coordination and Planning
This stage is a great time to review commissioning and decommissioning checklists. If you don’t have them, this is a great time to start. A good commissioning plan document has a sign off for every asset on the floor by every department that has an interest in the asset and its location. This includes networking, switch ports, VPN, VLAN, facilities, cooling plans, software licensing and loads, physical location, connectivity both inside and to the outside world including cloud interfaces, accompanied by redundancy and failover information, asset tag information, date in service, EoL (End of Life) expectancy, and any other pertinent information. If you can input this all into a friendly database that you can query and report against, even better!
If you don’t have power requirements for each piece of equipment, look them up. Don’t use the nameplate ratings on the equipment or you will overprovision power in the new space. Note which servers will dually connect to power, storage, and networking with the asset information. In some cases, companies like to replace cables to “pretty up” cabinets, color code primary and secondary, and add serial numbers or some number scheme to help documentation. Information can be updated with the connectivity and circuit/plug information when installing in the new location.
This full inventory of assets is needed to plan the new space. Not all assets may move, meaning that the documentation will need to include replacement asset data and a decommissioning plan for equipment being replaced/phased out. Including their eventual destruction. The decommissioning plans are just as crucial as the commissioning plans and each decommissioned piece of equipment needs to have full departmental sign-offs. Changes in assets will mean updates to the disaster recovery/business continuity plans (covered later). The MGM will be in charge of tracking such changes.
Swing hardware will likely be needed. Additional oversight will be required to be sure that every department is on the same page concerning expectations of delivery, ramp up and return of the swing equipment at the end. For that hardware and any hardware that will go away through attrition, the MPM will be responsible to assure assets are decommissioned, wiped, and disposed of properly. If each department tries to handle disposal separately, then there will likely be some economies and discounts not realized. The MPM will track all moving assets, swing hardware, new hardware, and loaners from initial contract to return. The MPM coordinates scheduling assuring that no department is waiting on another, or worse, prematurely returns equipment still needed by other departments.
Contract negotiation input
The MPM will liaise with the colocation provider during the contract negotiation phase assuring all IT concerns are addressed and the appropriate security and plans are in place. Brokers and those that help select the space are often real estate based and may or may not be IT versed. It is essential to have realistic expectations of what you need to support your IT needs. Densities change and there are many factors to consider that real estate folks may or may not comprehend that can have negative impacts for the space. For instance, things like latency, SLAs, communications requirements, security needs, etc. Will the space be large and ramp up or will you rent smaller discontinuous spaces at a discount? Non-adjacent spaces can be cheaper but may require additional equipment due to distance limitations of some communications offsetting savings and disrupting budgets. Colos will tell you services they have available. But in the sea of acronyms, the MPM liaises so needs don’t get ignored or worse “reverse engineered” out of the actual contract. The colo will use the contract doc to start ordering services on your behalf. The MPM communicates needs via a thorough needs list for incorporation into the contract. It is harder to add these things later and still meet deadlines.
New tax laws that went into effect in 2019 have changed some of the lease reporting requirements for colocation space. It is important to understand these ramifications by working with your accounting department to avoid negative tax and financial implications. Likewise, you need to be sure you are not prematurely disposing of depreciable assets.
Floor plan layout and expectations for the space
It is not possible to complete a floor plan, layout and cable plant design without input from all parties. The inventory sheets created in step one are the beginning. Every department will need to provide input to the designer through the MPM. The MPM and designer will visit the colocation facility to assure that the correct layout is provided to the designer and that nothing on the floor has changed from the drawings provided. This may sound bizarre, but the wrong drawings get issued more often than one might think. Redoing the design can lead to costly delays.
This plan and the asset documentation above will become the bible, so to speak, for everything. The plan, done correctly, will assure that all steps, departments, and equipment are in the project plans. The MPM will be able to interface with the colo and the various departments. If an outside designer is engaged, the MPM will work with that party to assure that the desired outcome is depicted.
If advice, problems, or concerns arise, the MPM will schedule a project meeting with all major stakeholders to determine a solution. For instance, if the designer recommends moving the power loads around for more efficient operation or comes up with a better plan that is more versatile, everyone needs to sign off. What worked for one user may not work for another one. A good designer can help find cost savings based on experience across multiple data center whitespaces. Be open to listen and potentially change your preconceived design expectations.
New Services
This stage is an excellent time to look at new things you may want to add to your infrastructure. A move is almost as good as a greenfield installation, which is a great time to implement intelligence, DCIM, Software Defined Power, security taps, and infrastructure upgrades. The well-versed MPM will be able to offer up some tools and also schedule demos and RFQs. Some MPMs can act as a disinterested third-party advocate in selection decisions.
The evaluation/selection process can (and should) happen before or during the contract negotiation phase, if possible. It is better to add these assets during the move and they can provide additional intelligence and checks and balances after the move. It never hurts to talk to some other tenants of the same data center, or similar centers to see if they can offer up any advice.
The Move and Post Move
As the contracts and move planning progress, the MPM should work with the actual moving company and each department as timelines change. It may be desirable to spin up a development environment at the new location to test that all is well before you move. The MPM is responsible for informing stakeholders of downtime windows well in advance of the move. Even if there is a live site, the MPM will relay move schedules and set expectations that there may be a hiccup or two. Clear communications allow others to plan their work accordingly.
The MPM will be on hand and on site during the entire move. The asset sheets, commissioning/decommissioning plans, and the project plan will be managed in real-time so that any problems are identified and corrected early. New information about the assets must be updated as they occur.
Lastly, the MPM needs to work with the DR and BC teams to assure that all information in those plans are updated with the new information. This includes making sure temporary IP addresses are retired and other project-specific items that need cleaning up. Anything that changed in the ramp-up testing is logged. The MPM will be responsible for all change management logs. Once live, failover testing will occur before blessing the new space. Testing may lead to another wave of updates to DR and BC plans. While this article is not a full action checklist, hopefully, it provides food for thought and consideration.
