The global cloud and AI platform boom is driving the need for more and bigger data centres. When you’re building a data centre, what are the four things you should look for in a lifecycle partner for your project?
For any data centre to be a success, it needs stable and reliable power, operational reliability and lifecycle support. The right partner can help you ensure all three are built into your project from day one.
So what qualities should you look for when assessing potential partners?
There are four things to look out for:
1. Work safety as the number one priority
2. Scale and expertise
3. Local knowledge and presence
4. Full lifecycle support
Let’s examine each of these in more detail.
1. Work safety as the number one priority
Work safety must be the number one priority for everyone involved at every stage of the project lifecycle – from construction to ongoing operation and maintenance. A project partner who understands the special safety requirements of a data centre project will be able to ensure that safety always remains the top priority.
Collaborating with a partner who has occupational safety at the core of their way of working and can manage safety processes and related administrative tasks takes a huge weight off your mind.
2. Scale and expertise
Building and maintaining a data centre requires extensive multi-technical expertise and project management capabilities as well as specialist occupational safety knowledge. You should look for a partner who can tap into a wide pool of in-house resources and who offers expertise across the full range of solutions.
These capabilities help you avoid bottlenecks and cost-efficiency challenges associated with multiple vendors and long chains of sub-suppliers. Dealing with a single partner rather than multiple vendors also makes it easier to stay on top of quality issues that could impact data centre availability further down the line.
3. Local knowledge and presence
The rising demand for data-handling capacity and the need to see a fast return on investment means that data centre projects typically have extremely ambitious schedules. An established partner with local knowledge and presence can help you keep your project running on time, avoiding unpleasant surprises and unexpected costs.
Navigating the maze of building codes and regulations in your chosen location is far easier with a partner who can offer local knowledge. This knowledge is invaluable when it comes to avoiding problems such as expensive redesigns, costly delays and even potential legal issues. What’s more, knowledge of local supply chains, ways of working and market conditions will give you a solid foundation for efficient project execution.
You can also leverage this local knowledge to help to smooth the way before, during and after the construction phase, engaging the local community and interfacing with authorities to ensure maximum shared value from the project.
4. Full lifecycle support
Lifecycle support plays an important role in ensuring that your data centre operates effectively without interruptions and is both energy and cost-efficient. If you want to be able to make smarter decisions about power, sustainability and compliance at every stage of your data centre’s lifecycle, you need a partner who can truly offer long-term support.
Working with a partner who can support you with everything from planning and construction to ongoing management, maintenance and operation will help you maximise your gains at every stage of the lifecycle.
A key part of this support is process management during both the building and operation phases. A credible partner who is meticulous about maintaining accurate plans, certifications and documentation of everything within their scope of supply will vastly reduce the risk of expensive disruptions.
Experience with specialist safety and security systems such as access control systems and smoke detection and fire extinguishing systems is another huge plus in terms of lifecycle support. Poor installation and maintenance of these critical systems can lead to costly and dangerous consequences further down the line.
Could we be your new data centre partner?
Assemblin and Caverion, part of the Assemblin Caverion Group, can deliver end-to-end data centre services including project management, operative leading, control room services, critical on-call duties and technical facility management services – all in a single operational and financial model.