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Translating intelligent design into high availability computer facilities.
The WES Design Advocacy (DA) program fills a critical gap in the traditional design / build process. Computer facilities have unique and complex requirements that span a wide range of disciplines and specialties. The goals and approaches to a project typically vary within the organization, and the specialists brought in to perform various aspects of the design / build often lack a true understanding of both these goals and the specific requirements of the computer hardware.
With a Design Advocacy Program, WES serves as a liaison with knowledge and understanding of all aspects of the design / build process, the computer facility operations and hardware requirements. This role facilitates communication between the different specialists and the end-user, helping eliminate errors caused by confusion or misunderstanding and providing expert knowledge to assist with decision making. It can often eliminate delays in the process, saving time, money and resource, and helps avoid problems that are often extremely difficult or expensive to correct after the fact. The program is applied intelligently to the goals and requirements of a specific project, and is designed with multiple phases to provide the appropriate level of resource to complement the various stages of the design / build process. Specific to each project, WES will typically attend select meetings, participate in designated conference calls, provide reviews at milestone points, and provide ongoing remote technical support. Typically, this includes the following major phases.
- Concept Design: This phase of work is utilized to establish all major parameters that affect the overall construction project. Major system topologies are developed along with system components. A conceptual physical room layout and infrastructure plan is developed. It summarizes the goals and criteria agreed to by the relevant business groups involved in the project and establishes design criteria that will be applied to the specific site to develop the common point of origin for the team�s engineering and architectural teams.
- Design Consulting: As the project moves from the conceptual phase to the development of a detailed design, the WES role evolves to one of review and advice to facilitate the production of the construction documentation. WES acts as the customer�s advocate to help ensure that customer goals are properly conveyed to the engineers and architects, and that the customer team understands the information provided by all contractors allowing them to make informed business decisions regarding the project.
- Construction Support: In the construction phase, WES provides ongoing technical support to the customer team as they interact with all contractors. This helps ensure that the design and overall goals are appropriately implemented. This is particularly useful as opportunities for substitution arise during the room construction. This support also helps ensure that the design goals are properly conveyed to and understood by the construction team.
- Commissioning Management & Room Certification: In this phase, WES provides review, development and management of a commissioning plan for the constructed facility. In this role, WES coordinates with the customer and commissioning contractors. In additional, this phase includes a room certification element to help finalize layout and test the environment to ensure it is both capable of and achieving the design goals. This also provides a baseline for future evaluation.
For additional detail, refer to the Computer Facility Certification Program (CERT), and for ongoing support, refer to the Environmental Monitoring & Support Program (EMP). |
