And now, for something completely different…
Posted by Sara Beth Duyck on Thu, Sep 02, 2010
By Steven Manos
I am an immensely nostalgic person. Whether it be revisiting places of my youth, filling my iPod with every 80’s tune imaginable or, (thanks to the new world order of social media like Facebook, etc.) finding and reconnecting with those from the past that time had done its best to separate me from. One of my fondest memories as an 8 year old kid growing up revolved around watching late night T.V. in the bedroom I shared with my older brother. Had my parents known that our Sunday night marathons consisted of adult themed shows like Monty Python’s Flying Circus and Benny Hill, we’d likely still be grounded. Though English humor was hard to follow as a young boy, some of that stuff had me rolling on the floor in my Kool Aid stained Star Wars underoo’s.
These memories were brought back to life for me last night as I watched what I believe is the greatest piece of English cinematography in the last half century,Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Being that my brain processes things differently than it did in 1982 (well, in some aspects anyway) the data center side of me couldn’t help but notice the well documented Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) of the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch detailed in the Book of Armaments.
This, coupled with two recent data center tours I have taken in the past two weeks has me wondering what the average condition of procedural documentation is out there and how is it utilized? What I have found in the industry is that there are three states that most facilities fall under.
- Those with no procedures whatsoever. Folks that manage in this fashion are sometimes considered renegades or rebels. Ultimately these folks become more concerned about the latest extension of unemployment benefits.
- Those that have procedures, but that are lackluster, outdated or far from complete. This seems to be a large percentage of a number of the facilities I have come across in recent years. They seem to crutch along, fill gaps when necessary or rely heavily on their manufacturers and vendors to get them through.
- Gung Ho over the top crazy procedures. These are the facilities whose documentation detail, and hunger for minutia can sometimes contradict the very nature of an operating procedure (that allows one to execute a process without the loss of effectiveness.)
These three at time also have a way of being interconnected where the renegades/rebels are fired for having no procedures in place and their successor either does just enough to cover his/her posterior or, in the third category ends up having a well documented procedure for replacing toilet paper rolls. Which, in the Manos household usually falls under Emergency Operations. :)
The other question that came up in conversation at a few of these facilities is the way in which facility operators and equipment manufacturers access this information when performing these procedures. For many, it’s a binder on a shelf in a room, others are moving to electronic tablet PC methods, and for King Arthur, it was blind luck that Brother Maynard was along for the trip. I recall being in a facility about a year ago that was in the middle of an unplanned outage. They had their emergency procedures individually taped to each piece of equipment for an effective, albeit low tech method of accessing the info they needed, when they needed it. As the staff moved between the rows, I recall thinking that they had MC Hammer-like bilateral agility that could only be enhanced if they were wearing shimmery gold balloon pants. However, the low-tech taped envelopes on the equipment ultimately saved them much needed time.
I suppose the point I’m trying to make here is that everyone should be looking to optimize operating procedures so they are thorough, complete and most importantly, useful. It’s obvious that having good documentation is a key component. However, it is just a component of the greater quality assurance system that must be in place that constantly refines, improves and modifies as the environment, equipment and business drivers change. While the Standard Operating Procedure of the Holy Hand Grenade was extremely thorough, it could stand to be modified for more simplicity and allow for quicker effective action.
My hope in typing this entry is that it gets you to reflect on where you are at related to your facility procedures. What category do you fall under? Are you comfortable in that your quality assurance systems produce useful documentation and that it manages the lifecycle of your MOPs, SOPs and Emergency procedures? I welcome any and all questions from the readership but will answer here, that which will invariably be the top three questions that will be asked:
- No, that isn’t me and my brother.
- It depends, an African or a European Swallow? And..
- Hammertime! And no, you can’t touch this.
-SM
P.S. For more information about data center operations best practices:
