C A S E S T U D Y
Given the 24 / 7 nature of data centres, Datacom recognises the critical importance of prioritising staff wellbeing and taking preventative measures to avoid fatigue. According to Uptime Intelligence’ s‘ outage analysis’, 40 % of organisations have experienced a significant outage caused by human error within the past three years. In fact, poorly defined or executed operational practices are many times more likely to impact a data centre’ s performance than any other cause.
One of the key challenges over the last few years for data centre operators is attracting and retaining staff. By reviewing and understanding the Uptime’ s M & O Stamp of Approval‘ Staffing and Organisation Assessment Category,’ Datacom set about delivering a new structure that focussed on staff development and staff welfare. By focusing on staff welfare, career pathways and robust training, Datacom has in many areas entirely removed the requirement for staff to cover overtime, leading to less hours spent at work thereby reducing staff fatigue. The clear career pathways, supported by robust training, including online courses and hands-on practical experience has seen a large number of its team upskill quickly and move into more senior roles.
As Datacom looks to the future, continuous improvement will remain a central focus, along with exceeding customer expectations and enhancing the sustainability of all its data centres.
Matt Neil, Director of Data Centres at Datacom, discusses how the partnership has made a difference to Datacom.
What differentiates Datacom from other data centre providers in New Zealand and Australia?
Datacom’ s biggest point of difference is that we are far more than a‘ racks and real estate’ provider. We’ re a full‐service technology partner with deep expertise across data centres, cloud, managed services, cybersecurity and software. That breadth means we can advise customers on the right mix of on‐premises, private cloud, public cloud, colocation and hybrid solutions rather than pushing a single model. This allows us to help customers place the right workload in the right location, at the right cost and with the right resilience.
We’ re also one of Australasia’ s largest locally-owned technology companies, with more than 30 years’ experience designing, building, owning and operating data centres in New Zealand and strong partnerships in Australia. Our four New Zealand facilities – Orbit( Auckland), Kapua( Hamilton), Abel( Wellington) and Gloucester( Christchurch) – are all locally owned and operated and are powered by 100 % certified renewable electricity.
From an assurance perspective, our decade‐long relationship with Uptime Institute and our Management & Operations( M & O) Stamp of Approval across our New Zealand data centres provide independent proof of operational excellence – something no other New Zealand provider has at the same scale.
What makes the‘ always on’ data centre model particularly challenging to operate?
‘ Always on’ means there is never a quiet period. Customers rely on our infrastructure 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and service requests can come from anywhere at any time. That creates several operational challenges:
• Zero tolerance for downtime: Even minor missteps can have significant business and reputational impacts for our customers.
• Complex, high‐risk change windows: Any maintenance or configuration change must be planned, peer‐reviewed and executed with extreme care to avoid unplanned disruption.
• Continuous resourcing demands: We have trained, vetted staff on site around the clock to respond to incidents, manage access and support customer needs.
• Relentless operational discipline: The processes that protect uptime – from routine checks to incident management – must be followed every time, without exception.
Our data centres are the heartbeat of our customers’ businesses. Having this at the forefront of our mind drives a strong focus on continuous improvement, measurement and independent validation of how we run our sites day after day, year after year.
Why did Datacom choose to pursue Uptime’ s M & O Stamp of Approval instead of relying solely on design and build certifications?
Design and build certifications are valuable, but they are largely point‐in‐time assessments. They tell you that a facility was designed and constructed to a certain specification – not how it is operated three, five or 10 years later.
We wanted a certification that reflected how our data centres perform in the real world under real operational conditions. Uptime’ s M & O Stamp of Approval does exactly that: it assesses the processes, people and practices that keep a site resilient over the long-term. That aligns closely with our philosophy of continuous improvement and is far more meaningful for customers who care about actual uptime, not just design intent.
By pursuing the M & O Stamp of Approval, we’ re deliberately holding ourselves to a higher standard – not just‘ was it built well?’ but‘ is it managed and operated to best practice every day?’
How does the M & O Stamp of Approval help differentiate Datacom from its competitors?
The M & O Stamp of Approval clearly demonstrates that our focus goes beyond physical infrastructure to the quality of management and operations. It provides an independent, globally recognised benchmark that many of our competitors in New Zealand do not have.
For customers, it simplifies due diligence. Instead of taking our word for it, they see a rigorous external evaluation of our staffing, procedures, maintenance practices, risk management and incident response. That’ s especially compelling for organisations in highly regulated sectors, such as government, financial services and healthcare, where operational risk must be demonstrably well-controlled.
It also signals culture. The M & O Stamp of Approval shows we welcome scrutiny, act on recommendations and treat operational excellence as an ongoing discipline, not a one‐off project.
www. intelligentdatacentres. com 15