Data Center Productivity Plan, lean is better with process improvement

One of my readers who shares his hockey passion with my family sent this MicKinsey article "data center goes lean" where average problem resolution is reduced 40 to 60 percent.

A data center goes lean

Lean transformations can help organizations supporting IT infrastructure to increase their productivity, improve service, and lift morale.

MARCH 2011 • Henrik Andersson, Gary Moe, and Lawrence Wong

The support units that manage and maintain key elements of IT infrastructure—such as servers, networks systems, and data storage—are prone to performance breakdowns that stem from complex and disordered workflows.

The report has interactive graphics on before.

and after.

the ideas are good, but there is one flaw I quickly found. in the above picture.  They show false alerts, valueless activities as being eliminated and going to the trash.

The false alerts and valueless data should be analyzed.

Hadoop competitor MapR, information starts leaking

Hadoop is a hot topic as companies like Facebook, eBay, Yahoo have system power by Hadoop.

This page documents an alphabetical list of institutions that are using Hadoop for educational or production uses. Companies that offer services on or based around Hadoop are listed in Distributions and Commercial Support .

I have been waiting for MapR to post more information on their Hadoop competitor, but nothing is on their site.  But, GigaOm has the scoop on the latest status.

What Is Mapr Doing?

They are said to be building a proprietary replacement for the Hadoop Distributed File System that’s allegedly three times faster than the current open-source version. It comes with snapshots and no NameNode single point of failure (SPOF), and is supposed to be API-compatible with HDFS, so it can be a drop-in replacement.

MapR's potential to be three times faster in theory reduces the compute requirements a third.  Even at a 50% reduction, it is hard to not look at the potential energy savings.

Data Center Systems sponsors free Ray Johnston concert at Tech Museum, Apr 6, 2011

Data Center Systems is a Dallas based company and they have sponsored Dallas talent as the post event concert at Storage Network World conference on Apri 6, 2011.  If you did not attend the conference you can register to attend.

Other datacenter and IT professionals can attend the event by RSVPing to Data Center Systems’ Carol Barron at carol(dot)barron(at)datacentersys(dot)com or 214-239-2046.

Data Center Systems to Host Free Concert in Conjunction with Storage Network World Conference

Ray Johnston Band to Perform at Tech Museum in San Jose at Post-Conference Party on April 6

Dallas and San Jose (PRWEB) April 4, 2011

Data Center Systems (http://www.datacentersys.com) will host a free concert on April 6 at a post-conference party for Storage Network World (SNW) attendees and other datacenter and IT professionals. The event will be held at the Tech Museum in San Jose from 6:30-8:00 p.m. Attendees of Storage Network World can attend the event using their conference badges. Other datacenter and IT professionals can attend the event by RSVPing to Data Center Systems’ Carol Barron at carol(dot)barron(at)datacentersys(dot)com or 214-239-2046.

The concert will feature the Ray Johnston Band, led by former Dallas Maverick and inspirational Leukemia survivor Ray Johnston. The Ray Johnston Band, whose music is inspired by rock, blues and country music, released their first album Sweet Tooth in 2009 and is conducting a successful cross-country tour to promote the album and raise funds for cancer research and treatment. After achieving his lifelong goal of making it to the NBA, Ray Johnston was diagnosed with leukemia. Cancer cut his basketball career short, but started a new chapter in his life. After successfully beating the disease, not once but four times, Ray Johnston began a second career leading a band comprising some of the best musicians in Texas, including Cooper Appelt (bass), Bobby Sparks (organ, keyboard), Keith Anderson (sax), Jeff Randall (drums) and William Barnes (lead guitar). The band’s ongoing tour is not only raising awareness of the group’s talent, but also raising funds for The Ryan Gibson Foundation (http://www.trgf.org), a Dallas based non-profit organization that supports leukemia research. For more information about the Ray Johnston Band, visit http://www.rayjohnstonband.com. Their album Sweet Tooth is widely available through outlets including iTunes and Amazon.com.

Where is Chris Crosby? Sitting right next to me, President/CEO DCS

I saw Mike Manos last week and we talked about where Chris Crosby was going.

Best of Luck to a Great Guy…

February 14, 2011 by mmanos

I just read that Chris Crosby has announced his departure at Digital Realty Trust. As an alumni of that great firm I can definitely tell you that Chris’ hand-prints are all over that company.  I had the pleasure of interacting with him, before I joined,  heavily in my role there, and have maintained our relationship since leaving.

So, where is Chris?  Sitting right next to me at the SNW conference in Santa Clara.

What is Chris's new job?  President and CEO of DCS.

Here is the press release.

Chris Crosby Joins Data Center Systems

Esteemed Digital Realty Trust Executive Becomes President and CEO
of Innovative Provider of Structured Cabling Solutions and Infrastructure for Data Centers

Dallas – April 5, 2011 – Data Center Systems (www.datacentersys.com) today announced industry veteran Chris Crosby will join the company as President and CEO and will have a significant ownership stake in the company. Crosby joins Data Center Systems from Digital Realty Trust, the world’s largest provider of wholesale datacenters, where he was a senior executive who helped lead the company’s dramatic growth over the past several years. Data Center Systems founder and current CEO Kevin Ehringer will work alongside Crosby in the new role of Chief Technology Officer and Chairman.

“Chris is one of the most respected people in the datacenter industry not only because of what he has accomplished in his career but also because of his integrity, passion and intelligence. We are excited about Chris’ decision to join our team and his commitment to build our company into the world leader in structured cabling systems and datacenter infrastructure solutions,” said Kevin Ehringer. “This is a perfect situation for both Chris and me. I will be able to focus on things I am passionate about, determining our customers’ needs and using those insights to develop state-of-the-art solutions that exceed their expectations. In his role as President and CEO, Chris will put his business acumen and boundless energy to work driving the company’s growth. It’s a great fit, and it positions Data Center Systems for a very bright future.”

Four Potential Ways Lee Technologies + Schneider Electric are better together

I had a chance to talk to

Rob McKernan, President, Americas, Schneider Electric IT Business
John Lee, CEO and Chairman, Lee Technologies
Bob Woolley, Senior Vice President, Critical Environment Services, Lee Technologies

about the press release Schneider Electric released on the acquisition of Lee Technologies. 

The first thing we covered is the introductions.  I've had the pleasure of having lengthy conversations with John Lee and Bob Woolley.  Rob McKernan and  I had not met and one of the first things we started discussing is my custom house project and my new Woodstone pizza oven.  My oven is the Chuckanut 4' diameter, 2,500 lbs, 115,000 btu.

Where the first thing I was cooked was a roast chicken.

Some things can be done much better when you get the right technology with a good process. For fun I like to cook (process), and my pizza oven is my new tool.

Lee Technologies has been able to upgrade its data center capabilities now that it has access to the tools Schneider Electric brings.  And, Schneider Electric has picked up a bunch of skilled data center chefs who know how to operate data centers.  What are the potential results?

1. Top of the list is reducing the energy used in data centers.  As the Google guys have shared the initial commissioning starts the process to optimize the performance and as load is accumulated, the process continues to improve energy efficiency.  Reducing energy beyond the simple things of hot/cold aisle containment, requires more resources and sharing information across teams.  Schneider Electric and Lee Technologies are one example of a team who can support more complex energy saving projects.
2. Products with processes. Processes aligned with products.  Lee Technologies has the operations process expertise.  Schneider Electric has the products.  As one data center executive shared with me, you can talk about any of the products I have in the data center, but you can't talk about how we integrate the products.  The integration is our intellectual property and how we are better than most.
3. Condition Based Management (CBM) is becoming a standard in some industries, but is rarely discussed in data centers.  Taking the maintenance information (Lee Tech) and creating a feedback loop to products (Schneider Electric) is part of a CBM solution.
1. It is Department of Defense policy that condition-based maintenance (CBM) be "implemented to improve maintenance agility and responsiveness, increase operational availability, and reduce life cycle total ownership costs"
4. Take all these ideas and expand into emerging markets - South America, APAC, Africa, and Middle East.

BTW, John Lee is on my list of visitors to see my new pizza oven.  It's great when we can talk food, wine, and data centers.  And, best of all be at home.