Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/257227
THE DATA CENTER JOURNAL | 15 www.datacenterjournal.com w ith the start of a new year, there are resolu- tions on everyone's mind. Inevitably management schedules that team meeting that starts out "how are we going to im- prove this year," "where can we find efficiencies" or "give me your top three best ideas for 2014." What can be a little disheartening is if this list starts to look a lot like last year's list. How can you move from challenges and issues to innova- tion and resolution? Challenge: "eveRything's a fiRe DRill": In a mission critical environment feeling the need to address every issue immediately is just a commonplace; issue discovered, request a response, if you don't get a response in a certain time, elevate that request and repeat. Solution: Challenge your existing partners to iden- tify systemic root cause solutions. Many current partners/vendors are also supporting other data center clients. Leverage their expertise to assist with putting out the "fire" and to provide a solu- tion that will eliminate the issue in the future. Let's look at an example: Someone/something enables a firewall on the supervisor server preventing a vendor from accessing JACEs/SoJACEs, which requires a troubleshooting issue. Many times vendors are asked to "get the system running again" or to "get me access." Good vendors act as good partners and search for the cause of the issue before it becomes a reoccurring issue. But even a good partner needs to be reminded that you need resolution and the cause of the issue to be investigated. Many of these material subject experts have the resources and internal knowledgebase to be your data cen- ters' investigation team. Several partners claim "thought leadership" and "proactive approach" – an issue or alarm is a great time for you to test that.