The recent fire event at OVH cloud, in Strasbourg, France and another similar incident in the US is a strong reminder of the risks which remain present in operating data centre facilities and, importantly, what this could mean for operational staff, business reputation and client services.

The Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC) has chosen Keysource, the global data centre and critical environment specialist, to undertake a pre-construction services contract for the data centre upgrade at its Daresbury Laboratory facility in Warrington. This will involve supporting the live operation upgrade of the data centre facility which includes the lifecycle replacement of critical power, cooling and protection systems.

Keysource, the global datacentre and critical environment specialist, has partnered with Tree-Nation and committed to planting a tree for every order it receives in a move designed to offset CO2 emissions on behalf of the company and its clients. Clients will have the opportunity to plant their tree and receive a ‘Tree Planting Certificate’ detailing the plantation project, Species of Tree and the all-important lifetime CO2 offset.

This year, working with Keysource HR manager Rosalind Owens, I was asked to review our company values. This was a first for me and to be honest it’s not really in my skill set. Creating a set of values seemed to fall squarely into the unknown waters of ‘fluffy emotional marketing’ rather than my comfort zone of fact-based evaluation and solution delivery.

Having a detailed pre-construction phase undertaken before starting the design and build or upgrade of a data centre facility has a number of major benefits, however many organisations choose to sidestep this part of the process. In my experience this is a false economy that can often result in, at best, a lack of consistency of supplier responses and a loss of control by the client; and at worst significant additional costs and a major impact to project delivery, especially within live environments.

Keysource, the data centre design and build specialist, has been announced as a winner in the RoSPA Occupational Health and Safety Awards 2020. The company was granted its fifth gold medal award after being commended for its high standards towards health and safety performance.

Survey of over 100 senior UK IT professionals reveals an opportunity to increase transparency and confidence in the data centre industry through clearer standards.

Our Associate Director, Jon Healy, sat down with DCS Europe to discuss market observations, our new services and the success of the business over the last year. You can read excerpts from the conversation below or see the full article in the summer edition of DCS Europe.