Studies have revealed that if power distribution is disrupted even for a minute, at any point of time due to the breakdown in equipment related to power distribution even for a minute, costs the company as much as approximately USD$8000 on average.
So, the longer the breakdown lasts, the greater is the loss. As such, every effort should be made to arrest further damage before it blows out of proportion. This holds true for data centers that manage critical data and websites and cloud-based applications.
Why is preventive maintenance plan useful?
The benefits of preventive maintenance are many and they are as follows:
- Prevents sudden breakdown of equipments and assets.
- Averts downtime.
- Identifies and detects failures long before they become critical and severe.
How will you make preventive maintenance plan a success?
Regardless of whether it is in your data center or any other manufacturing set up, effective scheduling of the same is of utmost importance.
Given below are few tips that will allow you to carry out the maintenance schedule effectively. Check them out:
Safety
Safety of workers and technicians is of prime importance. Data centers are susceptible to a number of occupational hazards. Using lockout tags can be helpful. Also, involving them in routine inspection and training is important as they will be aware of the casualties that might occur in the event of mishaps and unforeseen events.
Maintaining record of Work Orders
Managing details of work orders manually is a very tedious and cumbersome job. Regardless of the project that has is scheduled to be completed if the work orders are automated and carried out with the help of software solutions, the task becomes much easier.
In majority of the cases, the companies opting for preventative maintenance plan do so with the help of Computerized Maintenance Management System. For any data center manager, maintaining documents that are up to date is crucial.
Incorrect and inadequate information and documentation can lead to more harm than good. As such, the usefulness of preventive maintenance plan cannot be undermined. Most importantly, whenever required, these very documents can be accessed in the event of inspections and audits.
Standard checklist
A checklist is indispensable when it comes to verifying essential records, regardless of whether it is physical equipment and machinery or documentation. A standardized checklist will enable workers to check and verify the equipment or assets that need to be checked for their performance. It is definitely a standard or general protocol in every IT maintenance job, wherein a professional hardware & server engineer maintains a full checklist of things that need to be serviced at regular intervals for smooth functioning of all vital equipment and components, including the server. Here, a Cloud services expert like “Dataknox” can help in such preventative maintenance, which ensures unhindered business operations.
In case of data centers, these are usually referred to as EOP or Emergency Operating Procedures and SOP or Standard Operating Procedures. MOP or Methods of Procedures are also crucial and all these 3 procedures are made use of in case of data centers.
Plan maintenance and inspections regularly
It is a well-known fact that data centers have many UPS and batteries that are required from time to time. With the help of preventive maintenance plan, if you are able to carry out regular inspections on USP and batteries, the chances of sudden power failure and breakdown are reduced considerably.
Studies have revealed that for UPS units on which preventative maintenance plan was performed at least twice a year, the MTBF or Mean Time Between Failures is many times higher than UPS units that receive no PM annually. As such in case of data centers, it is particularly vital and the same holds true even for generators as well as HVAC.
Use Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS)
Last but not the least, in order that every minute detail is scrutinized accurately and well taken care of, using CMMS makes sense. Also, referred to as Preventive Maintenance Software, ranging from the facility manager to the workers, every personnel can track the status of any work order easily.
