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Explore the key expectations from peers regarding carrier-neutral colocation services and how to meet them effectively. Discover insights on access, billing, technician issues, general facility requirements, and shipping considerations to enhance operational excellence and customer satisfaction in colocation facilities. Learn about common challenges faced and practical solutions to improve service quality and reliability in data center environments.
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GPF 2.0 "How do we make it better: what peers expect from carrier neutral colocation and don't get"? Colin Corbett Denver Maddux Richard Steenbergen Henk Steenman Dan Golding (Moderator)
ACCESS Issues • 24*7 needs to be 24*7. • If I show up because the site is down or I need to run a crossconnect or just because I need a place to sober up, I need to be let in. • If there’s a place in the building that I am allowed to go during business hours, (like a meet me room or interconnect area), then I need to get to it afterhours. • If my package shows up after hours, I dont mind that I may have to pay more, I want to get it in the door. If it takes a bit longer thats ok, but dont turn it away.
Access Anecdote: - One provider of MMR space denied me access due to not having a ticket. They couldn't reach the contact points over the phone to verify that I need access. People who verify access should be 24*7. If you are big enough to have a MMR, you NEED to have a NOC who can authorize access.
The Basics • SPEED - Things should move quickly, and easily. • SIMPLICITY - Things should go the same way every time. • It should make both the facility and the customer happy • Never close the ticket till the issue is resolved. IF the issue recurs be able to re-open the ticket • BILLING • Be able to provide an accurate bill. • If there is a dispute, be able to rectify it in a short amount of time.
Technician Issues • Techs should understand TX and RX, and order the crossconnect in a consistent way. • When extended to equipment, TX and RX should be matched. • Use patch panels to provide a demarc, and provide us with useful port IDs for them. • Test the crossconnect at the customer handoff. This means the front of the patch panel, not the terminated cable in the back. • A crossconnect should be identifiable with a number that is the same on A and Z (and everywhere in the middle) ENDS. • There needs to be a database we can use that details where all the crossconnects go in my cage (regardless of who pays)
Regardless of who pays, allow me to test, or cancel a crossconnect that lands in my area. • Provide support and remote hands co-operability to work with customer pre-wiring jobs. We do it a certain way for a reason. Techs should be able to ask the right questions to make sure the work gets done properly. • Provide light loss data on new crossconnects. Don’t wait for us to ask for this information. • Have an option of "I'm sending light and 'the remote side is sending light'"", so that the techs can verify the cables are run correctly. • Provide notification when a crossconnect comes in to my cage.
Crossconnect anecdote #1: • Previously I had pre-run fibers to panels, but not plugged them in (due to lack of connectors). I've now taken to providing my own panels and pre-running my cables all the way through, (and testing the light from them) • Crossconnect anecdote #2: • The man with the most $1 million dollar ideas suggested: Allow the customer on A and Z side to tell YOU when the cross connect is done. This is likely easily provided on a website with a simple option to accept, and then the ticket is closed.
General Facility Stuff: • Have a loading dock. Really. • Large Freight Elevators, wide and tall. • In a facility without a a large freight elevator, hardware has to be tipped, or delivered in pieces vs. fully assembled • Ladder rack that doesn’t need to be moved when bringing hardware in. • If 208V (or 240) is the way to go, provide the appropriate power strips. • Manage power and cooling allocation proactively
General Facility Anecdote • Loading Docks. • In a facility without a loading dock, we had a cabinet delivered by a shipping company. As they were loading it onto the street to take it to the freight elevator, they dropped it onto a BMW.
Shipping • Never refuse a well detailed package. If it has a name, and a cage allow it in. • If you want to have an offsite location (that’s nearby) to have backup packages redirected to, that will work as well. Or, offer the customer an option to accept all packages with all the necessary legalese. • Offer long term storage for spares. They don’t need power or to be on the colo floor, just to be in a secure area • For outbound, allow us to send printed labels (such as pdfs) to reduce error.
Shipping Problem anecdote #1: • Case1: • Bad gbic • Had tech replace bad gbic via remote hands ticket • Had tech take gbic to shipping in a cisco gbic box via a remote hands ticket. • Opened A shipping ticket to have it shipped out including the billing number. • 1 week later get a call from shipping that it hadn’t been shipped because there wasn’t a big enough box. • Considering, there’s a shipping ticket and a remote hands ticket, it’s sitting in shipping, in a box, maybe the shipping ticket or the remote hands could include actually packing it and sending it.
Shipping Problem anecdote #2 • Bad hardware. • Had tech remove chassis and take to shipping. • Opened a shipping ticket have them shipped out. • They sat in shipping waiting for a box. • They sat there for 2 months. • At no point was I called to be told that there were things waiting to go out. • Make the inbound and outbound shipping policies simple and friendly and PLEASE provide considerate communication about the assets we are entrusting you with.
