* Diplomacy is important for data center managers
One of the biggest challenges when it comes to operating today’s sophisticated data centers is the fact that they touch almost all aspects of an organization’s IT department and business processes. That puts data center managers front-and-center for internal politics: virtually every action they take affects someone’s cherished turf.
Managing successful operations in such an environment requires a healthy dollop of diplomacy. Here are some tips to help data center managers navigate the politics:
* Get buy-in from application owners and lines of business before making major architectural decisions. Many of the decisions around data center architecture (including server and network capacity, platform and service types, and overall redundancy) have a direct and visible impact on application performance. It’s easier for application and business owners to support a decision to invest in improvements and upgrades if they understand precisely how those improvements will benefit them. An added benefit: gaining buy-in up front means that these groups will be more tolerant of unexpected setbacks and problems in the upgrade process.
* Actively facilitate connections between IT groups that have shared or related interests. For example, you’ll find that storage subsystems are typically purchased by a range of groups: the networking team purchases network-attached storage, mainframe folks buy storage-area network gear, and the desktop and server crews buy various shades of direct-attached and networked storage. Often, these groups aren’t even aware of each other’s purchases, much less the overall purchasing strategy. One effective approach to getting these groups together would be to hold weekly “storage strategy” sessions – and explicitly invite all parties.
* Make a point to meet regularly with a range of stakeholders. As noted, data center operations affect, and are affected by, a wide range of groups, including applications, security, infrastructure, facilities, and lines of business. It’s worth meeting with these groups on a regular basis to gain more information about their plans, issues and concerns. What that means in practice depends on your organization’s size and scope. For a relatively small company, that may mean personally making time to eat lunch or grab coffee informally with a handful of key individuals. In a larger organization, the data center manager may specifically designate team members as “liaisons” to the applications, security, infrastructure, and facilities groups. Effective large organizations also typically have formal liaison programs between IT and lines of business, with designated “ambassadors” for each group.
The bottom line: If you thought diplomacy was just for world affairs, think again. Practicing effective diplomacy may be the most important success strategy for data center managers as well.
