Today’s supply chain issues and delays are a humble reminder to all data center project managers and critical facility managers that nothing can be taken for granted. Even prepandemic, the data center industry was pushing the time-to-market envelope with prefabricated assemblies and techniques for managing production around long-lead items.

But what about anticipating the project before it even happens? Like a scene out of the 2002 movie Minority Report, what if there were Precogs with the gift of clairvoyance that could simply let you know when it is time to order a cooling tower or another pump? In reality, we would argue that this feat can be managed with a solid protocol for capital planning, and without the need for any psychic gifts.

In our new white paper, “Beyond Current State: Asset Evaluation for Better Capital Planning,” we present the case for just such a protocol. Understanding the condition and criticality of your data center infrastructure is necessary for making the most informed capital-investment decisions, yet many operators are too buried in the day to day when it comes to being able to plan future growth or investment.

Particularly in the mission-critical industry, predictive spending is preferable to a break/fix mentality; furthermore, “Managing to Known Risks” is the key to uptime and reliability. Our new white paper includes a detailed methodology to help you better understand the operation of your facility beyond DCIM and other monitoring tools. This program outlines a systematic approach to management through asset-conditions reporting that optimizes reliability while prioritizing capital expenditures.

With our asset-intensive approach to understanding facilities, you are on your way to navigating supply chain issues.

Every data-center manager has a good understanding of the equipment that supports the operating environment. Major electrical and mechanical components such as generators and cooling towers are well known to them, and some may say that they know a little too much about their infrastructure: the good, the bad, and the ugly. But few managers—and particularly those with multiple facilities under their purview—could provide, off the top of their heads, any level of detail for less visible systems such as monitoring sensors and batteries (despite those items being just as critical to the operation).

If asked, “What is the capital plan for the facility for the next four years?” finding the right answer can prove difficult for most data center managers. The reality is that the process of creating an effective and accurate plan for capital projects, which often exist in critical environments that commonly include a mix of aging, but essential, systems, is no simple task.

How to prioritize the most critical items for replacement or upgrade, and when to do so, is the million-dollar question.

For more about beating the supply chain through better capital planning, download Beyond Current State: Asset Evaluation for Better Capital Planning. Contact our team at 1.877.427.2368 or email us at answers@ascentcorp.com.