IT Facilities Management – Many Companies May Be Flirting with Disaster

April, 2003

IT facilities management is now a critical discipline in any organization that has a sizeable data center environment. This discipline includes the designing and building of a physical data center environment, as well as the ongoing security and maintenance required to ensure that the critical systems and applications housed in this environment are available on a 7 x 24 basis.

The individual in charge of this important management discipline must not only have a thorough understanding of electrical, HVAC, and facility custodial functions, this individual must also have in-depth knowledge of physical safety, security, and disaster preparedness and recovery requirements.

Large organizations spend millions of dollars each year to maintain their physical data center environments, and even in mid-sized data centers the costs are significant. According to our latest research, the typical organizations will spend approximately 4% of their total IS budget on IT facilities management.

History has shown that companies that take a more formal approach to this discipline are better prepared to handle emergency situations. A key element in developing a formal approach to IT facilities management is the development of effective processes, policies, and procedures that will provide a consistent set of rules and guidelines for managing the physical data center environment.

So, with the high cost of maintaining a data center and the criticality of keeping it safe and secure at all times, how effective are IT organizations in managing this important discipline. To find that out, we recently asked senior IT managers to rate the effectiveness of the policies and procedures they have developed to manage their data center infrastructure. The results of that survey are shown in Figure 1.

Although 60% of the managers reported they have developed effective policies and procedures for most of the key elements of IT facilities management, over 25% of the managers reported inadequate or non-existent policies and procedures in this area. Companies in this latter category are at significant risk and should take steps immediately to implement a more formal approach to IT facilities management.

Have You Developed Effective
Policies and Procedures for
IT Facilities Management?

IT Facilities 42803 - IT Facilities Management – Many Companies May Be Flirting with Disaster

40% – Developed effective policies and procedures for all of the
key elements of IT Facilities Management
20% – Developed effective policies and procedures for many of the
key elements of IT Facilities Management
14% – Developed effective policies and procedures for a few of the
key elements of IT Facilities Management
20% – Developed policies and procedures for IT Facilities
Management but they are not effective.
6% – No policies and procedures exist for IT Facilities Management

Figure 1

 

April 2003