As I mentioned in the previous post, the reliability level of a Data Center (target Tier) is defined after a risk assessment based on the impact that the interruption of the Data Center would have on business operations, and in the case of a corporate Data Center, the risk will be assumed by the owner or the one who operates the Data Center.
The design developed based on a Tier Objective, it is recommended that it be submitted to a third-party review, which validates that all criteria associated with the defined Tier have been considered.
This review, conducted by a specialized entity such as the Uptime Institute, is called Design Certification.
A Data Center with a Design Certification already has the recipe for its implementation.
The specifications for the equipment and facilities are detailed in the deliverables of the design phase.
Carrying out a Design and Certification process requires the leadership of a team of professionals with the technical and management skills to complete the project tasks, taking into account the requirements and restrictions defined in an ad-hoc Project Charter. I recommend following a project management framework such as those proposed by the PMI Project Management standards, and more specifically for Telecommunications or Information Technology projects, the BICSI TPM framework. Also, in this development phase, I recommend using agile practices.
In general, the actors in this Project Phase are the Owner, who is the main Interested Party and whose participation is key, as well as a Project Manager who carries all the management and administrative tasks, a certified professional in charge of technical leadership, and a multidisciplinary team to look at the different specialties (information technologies, telecommunications, electrical power, air conditioning, security, fire protection, automation, etc.).
If you want to learn more about the certification, I invite you to subscribe and stay tuned for the third part of this publication.