Due to growing demands in cloud environments, AI implementation, edge computing and more, the number of data centres is increasing. With more data centre infrastructure comes more responsibility for IT leaders and their teams.
Consequently, businesses need a clear strategy for repairing, monitoring, inspecting and servicing all systems that keep their data centres running smoothly. Whether using in-house staff, OEM or third-party maintenance (TPM), the main goals are to maximise uptime, prolong equipment lifespan and improve overall performance.
Here are some best practices to guide your data centre maintenance plan.
1. Invest in building a skilled team
Technology can detect data centre issues, but it’s up to knowledgeable employees to resolve them. Start by hiring people with the right skills and experience for your environment. Since human error can cause unplanned downtime, having an IT team that can keep pace with changing technologies is crucial, so be sure to invest in staff training and certification.
2. Consider outsourcing to third-party providers
While in-house teams are essential to IT operations, they may lack the skills, expertise or capacity to complete every maintenance task. Outsourcing responsibilities to a TPM provider helps organisations maintain performance without overwhelming internal staff or skipping maintenance due to limited time or resources. Depending on your IT needs and service level agreements, you can leverage OEM maintenance or a combination of OEM and TPM support.
3. Maintain a targeted spare parts inventory
Having direct access to critical spare parts helps decrease work order delays and can enable quicker repairs in certain cases. Implement a virtual inventory system that tracks parts across multiple locations to streamline your routine maintenance, resolve unexpected or urgent needs and minimise downtime.
4. Monitor energy consumption and carbon impact
Meeting sustainability compliance and regulations contributes to long-term data centre success and resilience. It’s increasingly important for our planet’s health to adopt environmentally conscious practices, including using renewable energy and reducing carbon impact. At the same time, monitoring energy use prevents outages and extends the useful life of equipment. Effective energy management is both a compliance necessity and a key strategy for your infrastructure.
5. Keep a clean, stable environment
A tidy and controlled environment is important for maintaining your data centre equipment. Regular cleaning, like dusting and sweeping, prevents hardware from overheating, general wear and tear and debris that can create fire hazards. Keep temperatures and humidity levels stable to lower stress on hardware and extend its lifespan. Monitoring tools and cooling solutions can help improve indoor conditions and reduce maintenance issues or outages.
6. Implement an asset management system
Efficient asset management in a data centre depends on meticulous record-keeping and organisation. Tracking the status, maintenance history, and configurations of servers, storage devices, networking gear and other hardware allows quicker troubleshooting and proactive maintenance.
7. Create redundancies to ensure uptime
By implementing multiple redundancies, businesses can maximise uptime during equipment maintenance or unexpected outages. With additional servers, power supplies, cooling units and network connections as backups, you can minimise disruptions when primary equipment fails and make routine maintenance safer and easier.
8. Establish testing protocols
Testing is crucial for identifying when maintenance is needed and confirming that it was successful. Developing testing protocols for key systems provides clear benchmarks to guide maintenance decisions and verify outcomes. High-priority systems — like backup power, fire suppression and emergency response equipment — require regular testing. These steps help ensure system reliability when you need it most.
9. Prepare for emergencies
Even with strong data centre maintenance practices, unexpected outages and disasters are sometimes unavoidable. Minimise disruptions by creating a comprehensive disaster recovery (DR) plan that details steps to take during a crisis, such as activating backup power, notifying vendors and protecting essential infrastructure. Regular drills, equipment inspections and proactive risk assessments help teams prepare for and prevent minor issues from turning into major failures.
10. Safeguard your physical and digital environments
Security is an increasing concern for many businesses, including physical access to data centres and cyber threats. Physical security measures, like access control systems, surveillance cameras and intruder alarms, help prevent unauthorised entry and safeguard the facility from bad actors. On the digital front, backup and recovery services and cybersecurity tools protect sensitive data from cyberattacks and malware. Proper data storage and management minimise risks and help prevent failures, ensuring your operations’ reliability and longevity.
Our data centre maintenance solutions
Regardless of your data centre maintenance strategy, following best practices and staying on top of your environment will help keep your operations running safely and reliably while saving your IT team time, budget and resources. Explore our Data Centre Maintenance services to learn more about how Service Express can help support your infrastructure.
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