Maintenance of engineering data center systems: what should be in the contract

The engineering infrastructure of the data center is a whole world that requires attention and care, regular maintenance, regular and sometimes emergency repairs. All this you can do yourself, hiring specialists for diesel power plants, UPS, air conditioners and chillers. And you can entrust the entire engineer or a separate system to specially trained service companies, especially if it is a small server for 10 racks.

We, the company DataLine , use the hybrid version, where our own maintenance service is engaged in the management of engineering infrastructure, and the contractors - maintenance and repair of equipment. This scheme helps us successfully manage a network of commercial data centers on 3700 racks.

Today we will share our experience with service companies and tell you what must be in the contract for the maintenance of engineering infrastructure. In legal formulations we will not practice, let's talk to the point.

Subject of the agreement

In our practice, the contract for the maintenance of engineering equipment or systems includes the following types of work:

• service - carrying out planned maintenance (M);
• regular repair - troubleshooting identified during operation or maintenance;
• emergency repairs - urgent and unscheduled repairs;
• technical support by phone and email - consultation with the contractor without going to the site.

This is the optimal set, which will close all the issues of equipment maintenance in case of accidents or when you need to clarify some details on the phone.

Sites, systems and equipment

We list all the sites and the names of the premises with equipment, the maintenance of which we want to outsource.

*Example:

Moscow, Korovinskoe Highway, 41, NORD-4 data center, Whiskey room.
Moscow, Borovaya, 7 bldg. 10, data center OST-3, Golf hall. *

Then we decide on which systems we will give for servicing the contractor. To do this, we recommend doing the following exercise: write down all the systems in your area of ​​responsibility. From this list, select those that the contractor will serve. So you will once again make sure that none of the systems was left unattended and that there is someone to take care of inside the company or on the part of the contractor.

     ,     :  (  ), .    , ,      ( ), - . 

So, with the engineering systems sorted out. Next, we write out the equipment for each system and compile the following file:

For the last item you need statistics on the repairs of each piece of equipment. If you have not collected it before, start doing it right now. This information is useful not only for the preparation of the contract with the contractor, but also for the calculation of the budget for the purchase of consumables and spare parts.

The scope of maintenance

The list of works on specific equipment and system can be found in the manufacturer’s recommendations or requested from the contractor. The contractor often gives a contract with a standard list of works. Your task is to study it carefully and adapt it for yourself. Check the following points:

• Do not duplicate the same work under different formulations.

  
  

• Are there any irrelevant work for your systems? Here are a couple of cases from our practice: the standard contract was to check the oil level in the air conditioner compressor, and we have a chiller circuit, where the compressor is only in the chiller. Checking steam humidifiers for all air conditioners, although we only had two air conditioners with a steam humidifier.

  
  
• If possible, avoid “empty” equipment checks without subsequent troubleshooting. It is preferable that the wording be as follows: “Verification and, if necessary, correction of faults”. Therefore, if the contract states “Control of the level of refrigerant and oil”, then we supplement “Control of the level of refrigerant and oil, and if necessary, refueling”.

Thus, you will receive the current list for your case and get rid of default works. According to the results of such proofreading, the number of points may significantly decrease, and you will have an argument in favor of reducing the cost of the contract.

Repair work

According to the description of repair work in the contract, you can choose one of the following strategies:

1. All inclusive: everything that breaks is repaired within the framework of the contract value. The contractor provides materials himself. This is the laziest option for those who do not want to make any list of works and try to predict their volume. In this case, the contractor justifiably lays out in the contract its risks for major repairs associated with the complete failure of the equipment. You need to be prepared for the fact that the value of the contract will fly up.

   
   

2. Only maintenance is included in the contract - all repairs are paid according to the price in the appendix or are additionally coordinated. The advantage of this approach is the low initial cost of the contract. More minuses: any minor repairs will have to make an additional agreement and pay separately. The contractor will have no incentive to work well, since the more trips, the greater the salary.

   
   
3. The contract includes all repairs (replacement of fans on the UPS, charger or heater on a diesel generator set, soldering of the conduit, etc.), except for the replacement of large units (replacement of the inverter in the UPS or compressor in the air conditioner). Also, such a contract does not include planned major replacements, for example, the replacement of a battery or all fuel in a diesel generator set. This option will require hard work, as a reward for which you will receive a contract value that meets your real needs.

Emergency exits

Emergency exit is required in cases where equipment breakdown threatens to stop the service and need to be repaired urgently. For example, if the breakdown of the air conditioner leads to an increase in the temperature in the engine room, then this is just an excuse for an emergency exit.
Unlike regular repairs, an emergency exit can be arranged at any time of the day, on weekends and holidays. The Service Level Agreement (SLA), which we will also talk about today, is required to state the response time to the application and arrival to the site.

It is difficult to fully register all cases of emergency trips, it is better to secure the right to determine their need for a contract. So the contractor will not be tempted to argue about whether to consider this or that damage as worthy of an emergency departure at 3 am on Saturday. As a counterweight to such freedom, the contractor usually prescribes the cost of an emergency call or limits their number per month. This is a normal practice - the contractor needs some kind of protection against false alarms.

The cost of an emergency exit is a fee for the prompt arrival of specialists at any time of the day. The works themselves are usually paid separately by man-hours or by the price attached to the contract. These expenses also need to be considered in the budget.

   DataLine                .  SLA               .       -. 

Frequency of work

In the annex to the contract, a maintenance schedule is drawn up, indicating which systems are being serviced and when. If the scope of work differs from one MOT to another, we also prescribe this (for example, MOT-1, MOT-2).

Sample MOT schedule .

Spare parts and consumables

It is important to state in the contract who provides the spare parts and consumables and from whom they are stored. It is necessary that the necessary materials were at hand during maintenance, emergency repairs and emergency repairs.

Consumables for MOT. Consumables include filters for air conditioners, oil, coolant, oil and fuel filters for DGU, etc. Typically, the contractor includes them in the cost of maintenance and brings with them. Make sure that this is true.

Spare parts and equipment for urgent repairs. We recommend storing these materials on our site, and here's why. It will take no more than an hour to replace the conditional fan of the external unit of the air conditioner, and it will take much longer to wait for the spare part to arrive from the warehouse. As a result, the repair will be delayed. Or another situation - emergency repairs during the holidays. You will call an engineer, even for some money, but the warehouse will probably not work on holidays, which means you will be left without the necessary details.

Large nodes. This includes all large parts with a long delivery time, for example, compressors for chillers, pumps, controllers, input automata for MSB. The contract also fixes who provides these parts. We recommend, regardless of the service contract, to have them on site.

In addition to consumables and spare parts do not forget about the tool.

SLA with contacts and escalation procedures

The service contract must have an application - the Service Level Agreement (SLA). Here are the main points that SLA captures:

• Contacts of responsible persons on the part of the customer and the contractor with the prescribed area of ​​responsibility. For example, the duty engineer can only call contractors, the senior engineer sign the acts, and the head of the operations department make an emergency call.

  
  

• Escalation procedure: who can write to whom and in case of problems, for example: a long reaction to the incident, coordination of controversial issues. This is a mutual history: contacts must be from both the contractor and the customer.

  
  

• Time for maintenance , repairs, emergency exits and information support schedule. THEN, repair work and technical support are usually carried out during working hours on weekdays, emergency departures - around the clock on weekdays, weekends and holidays.

  
  

• Guaranteed response time to the request and time of arrival at the site is prescribed for repair and emergency trips.

  
  
• Penalties for violation of any item. The amount of the penalty is negotiated with the contractor on an individual basis and is calculated from the total value of the contract.

The act of acceptance of work performed

A sample certificate of completion is attached to the contract. Often this is nothing more than a formality, but we recommend that there is a detailed checklist in the act on which you will check and accept the work done. The act will also record all materials consumed in the course of work.

Let's sum up. To make it convenient to work for both you and the contractor, pay attention to the following points in the service contract:

• Determine the types of work included in the contract: service, repair, emergency work, technical support;
• a list of systems and equipment and its location (in the annex);
• emergency trips: quantity and cost, response time;
• maintenance schedule (in the annex);
• Service Level Agreement, SLA (in annex);
• sample acceptance report of work performed.