Data Center Risk Assessment Can Save Thousands of Dollars

/

One of the most important lessons I learnt when managing data centres for Databanks Systems throughout New Zealand was the importance of carrying out risk assessments.  As a team of managers, we soon learnt that it is better to identify a risk and deal with it as early as possible, rather than let it remain and be the potential cause of a disaster. 

Individually risks may not present too much of a problem, but when combined with numerous other risk factors or events they can very quickly become a major issue.  It has become apparent to me throughout my career as a data centre manager and especially now as Senior BCP consultant that significant disasters are more often than not caused by a series of manageable events, that when combined create a “disaster”. A good example of this was during the recent flooding in my home town of Dunedin. 

The Event:

• In June 2015, there was the heaviest rain fall in 91 years
• Many streams and gullies feed into the South Dunedin basin from the hill suburbs
• Water flowed into a low lying area – less than 1 metre above sea level and started to pond
• Heavy flooding caused major problems such as road closures, power failures and the evacuation of a rest-home.

Other contributing factors

• The storm water infrastructure was already under stress from the usual winter rainfall it was designed to deal with
• Added to this was the fact that many of the drainage mud traps were full of mud and debris
• The screens in the pumping station designed to clear the water away filled with debris and could not clear the water
• The sea level in the area was above normal and so the natural drainage was not as fast as it could be
• Many of the houses in the area are now built on concrete slabs, which are only a few centimetres above ground level. 
• There was an increased run off of water from the surrounding hill suburbs.
• In the area of South Dunedin there has been an intensification of housing creating more roofs, drives and hard surfaces for the water to run off

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but this scenario looks as if it were a flooding disaster just waiting to happen and unfortunately these types of floods will likely happen more often with the added effects of climate change and other extreme weather events.

What happened in South Dunedin, was of particular interest to me as the data centre I used to manage was very close to the area that was flooded.  This is the second time in my life that I have had a data centre nearly flooded.  The first was in 1984 flooding of Invercargill city.

As a Manager of high importance data centres, I learnt very quickly the importance of carrying out very regular risk assessments.  For matters such as flooding, we would check the local mud traps and drains to see if they were clear, check the roof to see if there was any debris in the roof gutters and drains.  Check to see if the gutters became full of water or whether the water could flow back into the building.  All of these risks we felt important to the maintenance of the data centre were often not typical major risks you would associate with the upkeep of a technology.  However, it was through knowledge sharing and outside review that we came to realise the importance of these ‘outside’ risks.

Flooding events are not only caused by rain and rivers but also caused in buildings through broken pipes, over flowing hand basins and toilets. 

Water presents a major risk to data centres. 

Sam Mulholland - Managing Director

In carrying out our Risk Assessments, Standby Consulting uses a comprehensive check list that has been developed through many years of research, knowledge sharing and experience. These risk assessments are adapted to suit the regions we work in and modified to suit the client.

For more detail download pdf  http://www.standbyconsulting.com/documents/Data_Centre_Risk_assessment.pdf

Need more information?
For New Zealand, contact Janet Jones on +64 021 271 9467 or +64 03 4434914 janet@standbyconsulting.com
For Middle East, contact Tom Ham on +973 13673555 (office) or +973 3918 7293 tom@standbyconsulting.com

Disaster Recovery Plans for Otago & Southland

/

Following the Christchurch earthquakes, New Zealand insurance companies have been asking companies and organisations “where is your disaster recovery, business continuity or crisis management plan”.  Many organisations think that insurance is their recovery plan, but that is not the case.  All that insurance does is provide a source of financial support.  Ask the businesses in Christchurch how effective insurance was in getting their backup tapes and other critical data from the red zone.  No effect at all!

Standby Consulting is a Dunedin based company and we have consultants based in Dunedin and Central Otago.  Our consultants are internationally certified, have worked in New Zealand and overseas and have many years of experience.  Standby can bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the south of the South Island .  Our plans are modified to suit the size and operation of your business.  Standby are known for our down to earth, practical and pragmatic approach.

We can provide Crisis Management Plans, Business Continuity Plans, Disaster Recovery plans or audit your existing plans.  We can also provide ongoing support contracts, which will maintain your plans and keep them up to date.

So take advantage of the local support and knowledge that is available right here in your province.    Call Janet Jones on 021 271 9467 or contact us at Info@standbyconsulting.com.

I Want to Thank You Sam for the Professionalism of your Company

/

Those were the words said to me last week by the Chief Information Officer of a major New Zealand University that we are currently working with.  This was a very gratifying comment to receive and it highlights the level of delivery that Standby focuses on and delivers.  That comment not only reflects on me as the Managing Director of Standby, but also on the highly skilled and professional team Standby has used on the job.

Standby has been thrilled to work for this client again as we had carried out an extensive risk review, business impact analysis and DR planning project seven years previously.  The client called us back in to do a complete "refresh" stating that they were very pleased with our previous work and they had worked hard to address the improvements to their business continuity and disaster recovry resilience that Standby had highlighted to them previously.

The client has made significant advances in improving resilience and their capability to deal with a disaster or a major event at one of their campuses.  What was very pleasing to Standby was how they had thought "out of the box" and found solutions that are pushing the limits in dealing with massive data storage and the issues of sending it to a remote location. 

Sam Mulholland

Certified Business Continuity Planner in Central Otago, South Island, New Zealand

/

Senior Consultant, Janet Osborne (CBCP) is based in Central Otago.  She has worked for Standby for more than 10 years and has completed numerous business continuity projects for clients throughout New Zealand, Australia and in the Middle East.  Janet can assist your business with Risk Assessments (BIA) , Plan development and implementation (BCP), Plan audits etc.  She has vast experience in the areas of education, health, legal, telecommunications and manufacturing.  Please contact us if you would like to make use of Janet’s expertise.

Standby Project Receives ISO27001 Certification in Bahrain

/

In 2010 and 2011, Standby was contracted by a one of the leading financial organizations in the Kingdom of Bahrain to design and project manage the construction of their new computer centre.   The project included looking at the options available to the client, the capacities, such as cooling, power as well as providing a high security site with disaster recovery options. 

We prepared concept diagrams and fit out schematics for the client to consider and approve.  Standby clearly defined what the final result would be and how it would look.  One of the challenges was that this was a working data centre and all the work had to be carried out whilst the site was manned.  Planning was crucial so that there was no interruption to the client’s services.  

Not only was Standby responsible for the design of the server room but also the office space for operations personnel, management and the network and development personnel.

Features of the new data centre were:-

  • Two hour fire rated walls which were air and water tight

  • High false floor so that there was good cooling to the equipment

  • N+1 design in the cooling and power systems

  • Clean, tidy and well organised cabling and power cable systems are all supported by trays and clear of any possible interruption. There are multiple paths to the various cabinets plus high speed fibre and data cabling.

  • Good access security to the site and server room.

  • Fire detection and suppression systems.

The final result as a data centre that Standby has heard referred to as “the best in Bahrain” by international audit companies. In addition; this financial organization has successfully passed the ISO27001 audit certification process based on the scope of Electronic Information and Information Processing facilities at the Data Centre and Network Operation Centre for Data Storage, Application Processing, Archiving and IT Support.  

"Standby is very proud of the project and final result" says Sam Mulholland the M.D. of Standby, "however we must acknowledge that this was a team effort.  We had a client who was committed to the job and knew the standards they required and supported our recommendations.  We also had an excellent contractor Almoayyed Trading and Contracting, they have shown that they can fit out server rooms to the highest of standards".  

Saeed Nawar, IT Department Head of KFH says "I am very pleased with the final result and I found the team from Standby very good to work with.  They were knowledgeable, listening to our ideas and worked well with the contractors. They were always available to us and were very focused on providing a Server Room that met our requirements". 

 

Left to Right: Zandra Nicholson, Interior Design Consultant, Standby Consulting; Ramesh Teli, Sales Manager, Almoayyed Trading and Contracting; Sam Mulholland, Managing Director, Standby Consulting; Saeed Nawar, CIO KFH; Ali Mohd Al Madi, KFH; Ravichandran R, Assistant Manager, Technical Almoayyed Trading and Contracting; Peter Ashcroft, Project Manager, Ernst & Young