Protect the Data Center

Housing the hidden infrastructure underpinning all digital activities, data centers witnessed exponential growth during the last decade. The advent of cloud computing, proliferating mobile devices, the Internet of Things (IoT) and now, regenerative artificial intelligence (AI) platforms are driving unceasing demand for computing power. Internet usage has become almost universal, reaching 91 percent of households in North America, 87 percent in Europe and 73 percent in Asia Pacific, according to JLL’s latest Global Data Center Outlook. Mobile phone subscription and use rates are even higher, exceeding 90 percent penetration in most markets.

Hybrid work has also contributed to demand for cloud-based services that support work-from-anywhere. The continuing shift from in-house IT to cloud-based applications and virtual infrastructure has spurred the growth of “hyperscale” mega-data center operators — Amazon, Facebook/Meta, Apple, Google, IBM and Microsoft — providing cloud services on a massive scale.

Meanwhile, the global proliferation of mobile and IoT devices has sparked development of “edge computing,” in which small data centers provide computing power closer to end users. As next-generation applications like Microsoft-backed ChatGPT and Google’s Bard, machine learning tools and the metaverse become more widely adopted, additional computing power will be pushed to edge data centers to keep applications functioning at lightning speed.

Demand for 24/7 lightning speed functionality is not only here to stay, but also intensifying, and in turn intensifying demand for hyper-reliable data center facilities of all sizes. FM leaders must overcome an array of common challenges just to keep up. Fortunately, they have a strategic path forward.

From people and process to technology and TCO, leading FM practices for critical environments will position a data center to overcome the top five industry challenges and provide safe, reliable operations in new and existing facilities alike.

Challenge #1: Supply chain logjams continue to create FM headaches

Delayed availability of necessary components for data center operations and new builds are a persistent threat to uptime and bringing new facilities online. Lead times for critical gear and equipment are two to three times longer than they were in pre-pandemic times. Supply chain challenges initially arose during the COVID-19 pandemic and have continued largely because of labor shortages, inflation and geopolitical tensions in Europe and Asia Pacific.

An FM team can help mitigate supply chain challenges with smart preventive, reliability-centered maintenance approaches. Traditional data center FM programs follow maintenance schedules dictated by equipment manufacturers or corporate standards. However, the conventional, calendar-based approach typically adds to capital expenses because technicians are required to replace equipment regardless of its condition, or when emergency repairs are needed because equipment parts deteriorate ahead of the preset maintenance schedule. When supplies are difficult to obtain, premature replacement exacerbates the problem.

In contrast, next-generation maintenance is driven by criticality and condition. Rather than maintenance-by-schedule, next-generation maintenance leverages sophisticated IoT diagnostic tools to gather and analyze real-time data about equipment vibration, heat generation and other indicators of equipment condition. Human expertise is enhanced by data analytics and algorithms that detect performance anomalies not visible by human perception alone.

While some data center operators may view technology-driven management strategies as unproven, sophisticated FM techniques reduce the risk of equipment malfunctions and downtime. Data-driven early indicators enable engineers to identify and remediate issues to prevent outages and equipment failures, extend equipment life, inform capital planning and, most importantly, improve uptime.

In a construction project, FM expertise can help project teams anticipate increased lead times for materials and supplies and ensure that the new data center is based on the most time- and cost-effective facility infrastructure. Given that building a new data center takes more than 24 months, and incorporating critical infrastructure adds up to 10 months to the construction timeline, every time and cost saving counts.

Challenge #2: Equipment and operating costs are high

The cost of running a private data center or colocation facility is high compared to the cost of operating less technical facilities. Data centers require not only intensive energy, but also FMs that are highly trained with the specialized skills required to maintain uptime while ensuring safety in a high-voltage environment. To help manage costs, the leading practice is to adopt the TCO approach to asset management.

A TCO approach means looking beyond the initial capital expense of purchasing a piece of equipment to consider all the cumulative indirect costs associated with that asset’s life cycle. From initial acquisition and development through operations and end-of-life decommissioning, TCO represents the sum of initial capital expenses and long-term operating and capital expenses for a data center.

It is key to avoiding the kind of fragmented, reactionary decision making that often leads to overall higher costs, and it spells less uptime, too. A TCO approach transforms facility decision making, requiring leadership to make maintenance, workforce and facilities investment decisions based on long-term return on investment (ROI) and risk management, rather than on immediate results.

Cost reduction is an important dimension of TCO, but it is not the only benefit. TCO management integrates every aspect of a data center’s life cycle, from conception, construction and installation to commissioning, operations and performance optimization.

Another leading practice is for FM teams to operate according to a playbook: an authoritative source of procedures for the data center environment. In addition to ensuring that maintenance and operations activities are performed consistently and efficiently, a playbook is essential for ensuring a safe work environment.

It is inherently risky to work with high-voltage equipment in confined spaces or high-pressure mechanical systems. A lack of documented procedures or a failure to follow best practices can not only create the risk of a costly, damaging outage, but also dangerous work conditions leading to costly regulatory violations or life-changing injury to data center employees.

Challenge #3: Data center FM professionals are retiring

With both businesses and consumers increasingly dependent on uninterrupted cloud storage, demand is staggering. What is not growing? The number of highly skilled FM professionals ready to operate these complex facilities.  

According to Uptime Institute’s annual data center survey, nearly half of the workforce has more than 20 years of working experience in the sector, and therefore may be approaching retirement age within the next decade. An aging workforce is compounded by limited entrants into the data center workforce because potential workers are unaware of the opportunities. Women continue to be sorely under-represented in data center FM, creating a recruitment opportunity.

To counter labor shortages, government agencies in the U.S., Europe and Asia have instituted training programs or requirements for high-tech jobs. A faster solution is to partner with a third-party service provider that specializes in data center FM and already has appropriate training, methodologies and technologies in place. Partnering with third parties to bring in labor is becoming another common practice.

Eventually, new technologies will be able to compensate, in part, for the lack of skilled FM labor. Forward-looking data center FMs are beginning to use AI tools to power building performance and monitor real-time performance data.

However, most operators believe AI will not drive down FM staffing levels for at least another five years. Currently, AI is creating more jobs than it is replacing, according to a recent study from Lightcast.

The AI explosion can also have an interesting application at the property level. Gartner estimates that half of all cloud data centers will use AI by 2025, as data center operations increasingly turn to machine learning and AI to help improve performance and efficiency.

Challenge #4: Data center FM training often falls short

As FM and data center operations evolve, FM teams must have a continuous learning mindset to keep pace with new demands. One reason partnering with third-party FM providers has become more widespread is that the leading service providers invest heavily in training programs to ensure a deep bench of FM professionals specializing in mission-critical environments.

Training new data center workers comes with its own risks — simply flipping the wrong switch can shut down an entire facility. The ramifications range from uneventful to catastrophic — think security breaches, serious financial loss, reputational damage or an impact on global markets, depending on the size and scale of the outage.

Most data center outages result from human error. For that reason, the leading data center FM service providers train their staff to use automated tools that help reduce human interaction with data center building equipment.

To avoid costly or even dangerous missteps, some FM teams are using virtual and augmented reality to provide risk-free learning in complex, critical environments. Adoption of these technologies in a data center environment is still evolving, but immersive technologies have been successfully used to train staff in aerospace, manufacturing and other industries that require specialized skills.

Challenge #5: The need to reduce carbon emissions

Data centers are one of the most energy-intensive building types, consuming 10 to 50 times the energy of a typical commercial office building. Collectively, data center facilities account for approximately 2 percent of the total U.S. electricity use — a proportion that will increase as demand for data centers continues to grow.

Not surprisingly, sustainability is a top priority for all data center operators as pressures mount to establish net zero goals. FM teams are on the frontlines of addressing energy use and environmental impact, and helping operators respond to new regulatory initiatives to control industry emissions. In addition to reducing data center operational costs, sustainable operators gain competitive advantage among customers seeking solutions for their own carbon footprint targets.

Climate legislation and initiatives are driving technological improvements and new sources of renewable power. For data center FM teams, exploring potential renewable energy sources is imperative. Typically, adoption begins with back-up power that potentially could become a primary power source as well.

FM teams must stay up to date on innovations such as liquid cooling, a new approach to keeping high-powered servers from overheating that is estimated to be up to 3,000 times more effective than air.

FM professionals are fundamental for reliable, resilient data centers

Once a data center facility is commissioned and operational, leading FM practices and a well-trained FM team are critical elements for a reliable, resilient data center.

A thoughtful FM strategy will increase asset life, increase uptime and decrease lifetime costs with intelligent preventive maintenance, leading FM technologies, ongoing facilities regulatory compliance and a culture of safety. Also critical, smart FM improves energy efficiency and reduces emissions to advance vital carbon footprint targets.

Amid today’s data center challenges, FM professionals with the right tools and strategies will have the opportunity to shine, while ensuring the organizations they serve do as well.