FAIRFAX, Va. – December 5, 2006 – Lee Technologies, Inc. (www.leetechnologies.com), a leading provider of solutions which enable commercial enterprises and government agencies to avoid disaster and mitigate risk to their physical infrastructures, offers important readiness recommendations as corporate data centers migrate to Microsoft Vista, Exchange Server 2007 and 2007 Office.
"Increased security, compliance, reliability and uptime are core reasons why organizations will be migrating to the new Microsoft platforms,†said George Newstrom, President and COO of Lee Technologies. "These are core issues that impact data centers and mission-critical facilities as a whole.â€
Lee Technologies has outlined five core recommendations for CIOs/CTOs, data center managers and facilities managers to ensure that their data centers are ready for the new Microsoft products:
1) Review your Power and Cooling Infrastructure
Many firms will be rolling out new blade servers that significantly alter the power and cooling landscape of a data center. Managers need to measure the current capacity of the Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPSs), generator, switchgear, transformer and HVAC equipment. Anything that is above 90 percent capacity should be flagged for immediate review prior to installing new equipment.
2) Ensure Proper Maintenance has been Performed
In numerous organizations, less than 50 percent of all contracted Preventative Maintenance is actually completed. Due to limited maintenance windows, staffing and other issues, maintenance of key critical infrastructure is neglected. Prior to installing new equipment, an "up-to-par†review should be completed to ensure that the infrastructure is prepared for the additional load and won't fail.
3) Follow Procedures
Whenever the landscape of the data center is altered, it is important to follow the custom procedures created to ensure that additions to the data center do not impact the ongoing operations of the facility. Procedures should be tested for accuracy. Following Methods of Procedures (MOPs) and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) will ensure a successful rollout of new platforms.
4) Identify Outstanding Risk
Conduct a physical assessment of your data center and other mission critical facilities. Identify the areas where you are most vulnerable and develop a plan to mitigate that risk. Utilize a third-party that was not involved in the initial design and build-out to get the most objective analysis possible.
5) Staff Appropriately
Organizations need to make sure that they have qualified personnel to keep operations up and running – especially critical when new operating systems are deployed. Implementing best practices for risk mitigation in data center infrastructures is paramount for the maximum uptime necessary to support new platforms, operating systems and applications. Besides having expert knowledge in key physical infrastructure systems, personnel also need to be able to put in place standard operation procedures, daily walkthrough inspection sheets, safety inspection criteria and various other significant processes to enhance the overall operation of the facility.
