Issue link: https://cp.revolio.com/i/786813
14 | THE DATA CENTER JOURNAL www.datacenterjournal.com half of their planned expansion space. 3 But most of the colocation market still comprises retail space to secure tenants. • Preventing lost revenue. e mentality is reciprocal. A colocation data center provider cannot afford to lose tenants because of construction or commissioning delays just as much as a tenant cannot afford to lose business or data because its colocation infrastructure wasn't in place to support its needs. And it also boils down to the general contractor's ability to ensure that communications protocols function properly to meet overall project deadlines. So what has been done so far to improve some of these issues? Let's consider a few scenarios. When project timelines are disrupted, colocation data centers may consider paying extra to expedite the sched- ule, but doing so can drive up construction costs. Market research from the Uptime Institute shows that project-time- line delays can be attributed to poor integration of complex systems, lack of thorough commissioning or compressed commissioning schedules, design changes, and material/ product substitution. 4 Another approach is to meet all requirements through the Tier Certification of Constructed Facility process, 5 which works to ensure that a facility is built to its intended performance capacity, effectiveness and reliability. e chal- lenge here is that the majority of those data centers, coloca- tion included, that have Tier Certification of Constructed Facility ranking are based outside of the North American market. In some cases, penalties for delays are incorporated into the construction contract as a means to maintain schedules. Nevertheless, what's evident is that past and cur- rent approaches to addressing issues that arise during con- struction, factory-witness testing or commissioning—which all impact cost, schedule or operations—are not working. A NEW WAY ink about the last time you attended a concert that had an opening act or two before your favorite musician appeared. Did the sound crew (tasked with setting up the equipment—microphones, signal processors, amplifiers, loudspeakers, instruments and so on) or sound engineer (who controls and mixes all of the sounds coming from the stage) follow a new or different process in stage setup or sound testing before every live event? Probably not. Instead, to save time and cost and to increase their efficiency, they take a standard approach to their equipment, site wiring and stage setup and consider where technology can be streamlined to simplify future setup. Now imagine taking a similarly standard approach to colocation data center timelines or project planning. What if there was a way to decrease time to market while also reducing engineering time, ordering time and cost? Other considerations related to colocation data center construction are those that directly affect the general con- tractors or subcontractors assigned to the project. What if instead of relying on those design, construction, testing, integration and commis- sioning processes to occur in sequential order, they could get those technologies from solution providers working in sync with the construc- tion process? By shiing specific processes of factory- witness testing—such as graphics, the application programming, alarm setup and the modular order—or commissioning (both of which fall toward the end of a construction cycle) earlier in the project, providers can The majority of data center providers with a Tier Certification of Constructed Facility ranking reside outside of North America. Image courtesy of Uptime Institute.