Complexity Blindness

Underestimating complexity is widespread and a common affliction for most program and project managers. This complexity blindness compounds an otherwise well-constructed plan as contingencies are often not in place when the wheels come off the plan.

Two components of complexity blindness – duration and disruption – are the most common mistakes to understand.

Duration and Disruption

A complexity-induced duration event can elongate the time to complete a set of tasks. For example, it’s common to underestimate the complexity of communication during a data center move. This complexity in communication can completely change the dynamic for finishing a task and as a result elongate the time to finish other tasks. It’s easy to see that plans constructed where everything has to go right are doomed from the beginning.

A complexity-induced disruption event can have a disastrous impact on a data center move due to the disruption it causes when it occurs. Presuming, for example, that power is not complex and failing to afford it  special attention can disrupt an entire data center move.  Most IT (Information Technology) professionals are not familiar with the precision of language required to properly specify power in a new location. Missing one special power connector or undersizing a power circuit can prevent powering up the key piece of equipment in your move.

These are just two examples of Complexity Blindness and data center moves are littered with small and large elements that can derail an otherwise perfect (on paper) plan.

While discounting the complexity of a data center move is quite common, it doesn’t have to be fatal to your career. Get your move plan thoroughly reviewed and pay attention to duration and disruption events caused by complexity blindness.

About the Author:

Blaine Berger is the President of E-Oasis, a business and technology veteran with 25 years of experience. You can contact Blaine via e-mail at blaine@e-oasis.com or follow @eoasis on Twitter. You may also leave a comment here.

E-Oasis offers complete data center moving services for the  life-cycle of a data center move. We help you avoid Complexity Blindness in your data center move planning. Additionally, our workshop series addresses all aspects of data center moving.

When considering a data center move, how do you know which decisions you’ll encounter?

How do you avoid decision paralysis costing valuable time?

What if you could attend a customized workshop at your facility? Once that demystifies the process of moving a data center?

Introducing the Data center moving workshop for all stakeholders. From executives, to IT directors, to staff, we cover important topics including:

1. The Executive’s Guide to Data Center Moving
2. Common problems that undermine almost every data center move, and
3. Critically important Post-Move issues that require planning right now

Decision-making is such an important skill in these data center relocation moves, that organizations need to avoid the paralysis trap.

Decisions that are not timely or not made at all are in fact more damaging than poor decisions.

Establishing a common sense of urgency for your move is one the best first steps you can take.

All the workshop details can be found at http://datacentermoving.com/datacenterworkshops

Reserve a spot right now!

You might be surprised to learn that we help companies of all sizes. The data center move guide can be helpful for moving a small computer room as well as guiding your own development of a move project checklist.

Navigating the Perfect Storm

A data center move is often one component of a larger corporate relocation and can be a bit overwhelming. How much pressure are you experiencing? Time constraints, budget constraints, organizational pressures, and overworked staff all contribute to the perfect storm. The place to start is to understand the process, identify the milestones, and keep your options open when dealing with contingencies.

Our Services Give You Options

The consequence of indecision is often the most expensive mistake when moving a data center. Our expertise helps you navigate your unique data center relocation by avoiding costly mistakes. The first step is a conversation. Give us a call at 303-485-1115 .

1. Lack of a comprehensive data center moving plan. Don’t be rushed into a data center relocation without dedicating adequate resources and time to a detailed moving plan.
2. Inadequate attention to solving the cooling problem. Even with all the information about proper hot and cold aisles, dueling CRAC (Computer Room Air Conditioners), and improper return air dynamics, IT staffs still operate inefficient data centers with glaring problems. Seek out a data center audit to ensure easily corrected mistakes get corrected.
3. Swinging for the fences with Virtualization. While virtualization can deliver impressive cost savings, it also changes the way your data center operates. Betting that you can completely move to a virtualized platform as the underlying strategy of your data center move without unintended consequences ignores the complexity inherent in the data center.
4. Unreasonable construction time lines. It’s rare that a construction completion date is met for a variety of legitimate reasons. The data center commissioning process is often compromised in the rush to recover the time consumed by construction. Delaying the data center move will cost less in the long run than moving into a a new data center that has inadequate soak time and testing.

The decision to relocate your data center should be made carefully. As this video explains, a data center move readiness assessment can make the difference between a successful data center relocation and a fatallly flawed move.

While it’s true that best-practice experts will preach continuous planning, it’s also true that most corporate data centers are understaffed. It’s not unusual for the Executive Management with oversight responsibility to have no actual data center operational experience. In this environment, how can you expect anything other than accidental data center planning?

Unfortunately, when it comes time to plan the move of these data centers, the perfect storm of accidental planning, understaffed neglect, and the crisis-driven mindset can doom the move before it begins.

Moving Unstable Data Centers Will Be Painful

Moving a data center that’s unstable operationally is a prescription for certain failure. Freezing changes in the data center must be enforced.  This freeze for any meaningful length of time is one of the most difficult parts of a data center move. For organizations with an ad-hoc planning approach, the need to freeze changes is particularly acute because even small changes cause huge disruptions.

It’s not practical to believe that an organization used to ad-hoc methods will first change their culture and then move their data center. This is particularly true when the need to move a data center is urgent.

Here’s a helpful data center moving video that explains why our free data center moving guide can help you understand your move.  Starting early is the number one factor for a successful data center move. If your need is urgent, give us a call.

• Data Center Moving Checklist
• Data Center Relocation
• Data Center Site Selection
• Corporate Relocations

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Jump Start Your Learning with These Popular Posts

I’ve selected some of our most popular topics to get you up to speed quickly:

• Where do you find the elusive data center move checklist?
• How do you calculate moving expenses for data center relocations?
• How do you write a data center relocation statement of work (SOW)?
• What do you need to know about data center site selection?
• What are the common factors that undermine almost every data center move?

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E-Oasis Wants to Earn Your Business
While many white papers are written carefully to disclose very little information, ours are different. Make no mistake – we do want to earn your business  by planning your data center move. However, we think the best way to do that is to explain the anatomy of a data center move including common mistakes to avoid.

This 2009 edition of the data center move guide contains:

• Is Your Move Feasible?
• Anatomy of a Move
• Budgeting
• Site Selection
• Pre-Move Planning
• Teardown
• Transit
• Arrival
• Re-Assembly
• Post-Move
• Top Mistakes to Avoid

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Survive or Thrive?

Data center relocations are major projects. But just surviving the relocation may prove to be the wrong strategy. Our relocation planning will save you money, help you avoid costly and potentially embarassing mistakes, and minimize the disruption to your business.

Check our our blog-at-a-glance feature if you’re new to this site to learn more about data center moving.

We move data centers.

Put our systematic methodology for planning and moving a data center to work for you. We  make you the Super Hero of your move.

• Planning – Helping you avoid costly mistakes with our data center move playbook.
• Execution – Keeping the data center move on-track.
• Post-Move Support – Critically important post-move services ensures success.

Give us a call. We’re ready when you are.

If you’re going to attempt a data center move on your own, get an outside assessment of your data center relocation plan. And that means your first step is to document your move plan so that it can be reviewed.

You’ll also need a strategy to correct common Executive Misconceptions as you seek approval for your plan.

Finally, pay attention to your assumption errors because surprises will cost your organization money.

When you get stuck, give us a call. One of our service offerings could make the difference between a successful data center move and dusting off your resume.

Isn’t your move unique enough to warrant careful consideration beyond frantic web searches?

It could cost your company quite a bit if your plan underestimates the costs and the time required to successfully relocate your data center. Let’s not forget that data center moves are bigger than transportation of equipment from the origin to the destination. Neglecting staff retention issues , for example, can doom an otherwise successful move.

Assumption Errors Cost Money

What do you suppose the cost of your assumption errors will be? The most common assumption error is assuming you know when your data center move cost model is complete. Even small assumption errors can be quite costly. Assuming, for example, that moving on a weekend is the least disruptive time to move will not only increase your costs dramatically but also interject unnecessary risk into your move. A number of misconceptions can lead to assumption errors and increased costs.

Budgeting for data center moves should be less about getting the number and more about getting the right process in place to move a data center successfully.

You need a process that documents all of your assumptions and also tracks those that change with time or events. A process that surfaces budget impacts early serves to ensure you’ll have the necessary fuel to complete the data center relocation journey. Some suggestions:

1. Document your Move Narrative
2. Identify your Assumptions
3. Seek out an Assessment to identify the gaps in your analysis

Our data center move readiness assessment can identify the assumption errors that could be sabotaging your move plan. Give us a call to discuss your unique data center relocation challenges.

After the RFP, you’ll still end up needing to manage a multi-vendor move. Larger vendors will have their own relocation process that they follow to deliver their services. This process typically overpowers your staff who are unprepared and unfamiliar and often already exhausted from the RFP process itself.

Additionally, the RFP has likely used up valuable time and has increased the pressure on time-lines.

Pay attention to these items following an RFP:

• Staff Retention Issues – This time period often marks the beginning, not the end, of staff retention concerns.
• Vendor Scope Creep – Following a contract award, vendors often have the first opportunity to accurately determine the work scope. It should be no surprise that this discovery rarely matches the original bid.
• Multi-Vendor Coordination Issues – Every vendor will have their own timeline, but a data center move requires an orchestra-like cooperation. Larger vendors with their larger staffs equipped with their corporate methodology will overpower smaller vendors and your own staff.

Is it time for an intervention? A fresh and independent assessment of your data center relocation including multi-vendor management strategies, cost containment strategies, and a look forward to equally critical post-move issues can provide welcome relief from an exhausting RFP process.

Give us a call. We can give you new insight into your data center relocation project at a time when your staff is weary and exhuasted from the RFP.  You’ll want an advocate who is independent from the self-interest that the equipment vendors have in your data center.