We’ve all watched the news reports over the past month as the Gulf Coast was hit with a hurricane double-punch. Harvey soaked and flooded Houston; Irma battered the entire state of Florida. In both places, lives have been lost, and the property damage has been severe.
Data centers seem to have weathered both storms and high water. That these data centers all stayed dry and operational speaks well for the stamina of their critical infrastructure, not to mention the efficiency and determination of their staffs, who stayed onsite to manage the facilities during the two hurricanes.
Of course, data centers aren’t the only type of critical facility that has to be able to weather a disaster. Hospitals play an especially crucial role in supporting the community during a disaster and must be prepared for any emergency.
At this year’s Critical Facilities Summit, which will be held October 23-25 at the Minneapolis Convention Center, a variety of sessions will help attendees ensure that their critical facilities avoid downtime, whether caused by a natural disaster or not:
• “Understanding the New CMS Emergency Preparedness Rule.” In response to high-profile natural and man-made disasters the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued new rules requiring providers and suppliers to plan for disasters, and coordinate with federal, state tribal, regional, and local emergency preparedness systems. This session highlights the impact of the new rules on hospitals.
• “The New UL Data Center Certification and Standard 3223.” This session examines the key components of critical infrastructure, discusses the most common causes of outages, and looks at ways to improve the reliability and safety of data centers.
• “Sustainable & Resilient Healthcare Infrastructure: Valuing our Assets.” This session highlights healthcare projects to improve sustainability and resiliency in existing facility infrastructure, from triage through optimization, including the implementation and results of a resilience evaluation.
• “Effective Training for Critical Facilities Teams.” This workshop-style session shows how to prepare a site-specific training program for data center staff. A well-trained staff is essential for keeping critical facilities operational during a catastrophic event.
• “Champion the Complexities of a Successful DCIM Implementation.” A facility’s capacity to survive a major event is dependent not just on its physical infrastructure, but also on the tools its staff uses to keep the facility running during the crisis. This conference session looks at how to implement a data center infrastructure management (DCIM) system, which can be crucial for keeping a facility’s systems online when it matters.
This year’s attendees will also have the opportunity to learn how the latest technologies can help make their infrastructure even more durable, and better able to withstand catastrophic events like Harvey and Irma.
Reliability and uptime are woven into the fabric of Critical Facilities Summit. Learn more at www.criticalfacilitiessummit.com.
Robert S. Lindsay is a writer who frequently covers data centers.
Email comments and questions to wendy.dietzler@tradepress.com.
