The main power protection for critical equipment within data centres comes from an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS). Typically, consultant engineers design the electrical infrastructure and then specify a UPS system that meets the required standard for power availability. There are various manufacturers and multiple configuration types for designers to wade through before reaching a solution that meets their needs. Great care is taken at this early stage in the lifecycle of the data centre. Suresh K Patel, technical manager of Schneider Electric’s IT Business explains.
One aspect that is often overlooked when selecting a UPS supplier is the impact a good quality and professional service team can bring to the project. Over the lifetime of the equipment, the service team plays a key role in transforming the electrical infrastructure design into a working system that protects critical equipment. From initial commissioning to ongoing maintenance of the solution, the service engineering team is an indispensable element of assured operations.
The makings of a great UPS service engineer
Not surprisingly, the starting point is selecting the right person for the job. Technical ability is very important, but it should not be the only criteria. The recruitment process should therefore focus on selecting an individual who will not only fit in with the team, but is also self-motivated, enthusiastic and willing to take on challenges of a demanding role.
When Schneider Electric hire new service team members they don’t necessarily look for engineers with UPS experience. The aim is very much to recruit for values and then train for skills. As an organisation, Schneider Electric is confident in its training and mentoring programmes to produce the calibre of engineer required to deliver high standards of service and maintain a class-leading profile. In fact, in the company’s recent intake, only one out of six engineers recruited had any previous UPS experience.
Train for skills
Training facilities that are dedicated and specialise in Field Service training are essential, and ideally these should be factory-based. The training team should be full time and committed to producing highly trained engineers. They must have an in depth knowledge of the product portfolio, and field experience to match.
Being factory-based has a number of advantages for the trainers as it brings them into close contact with R&D, Technical Support and Quality Assurance personnel. This allows them to draw on these teams to tailor courses to maximise knowledge-transfer, skills and techniques to the Field Service engineers, and prepare them for the most complex on-site issues.
At Schneider Electric the average factory product training course runs for eight working days. As you can imagine, for a UPS manufacturer with a large portfolio of products has to invest significantly in training, not least in the time during which engineers are not active in the field. Depending on factory location, there are also on-costs such as travel, accommodation and other expense to be taken into consideration. The typical costs for attending three factory-based courses at a company like Schneider Electric is in excess of £10,000.
Developing experience with customers and products
Field experience is obviously not something that can be learned in a classroom and it takes time to build. Schneider Electric has a policy where a new engineer is not permitted to work alone on any products until after a six-month probation period has been completed successfully. During that time, recruits will both shadow experienced engineers and attend product-specific factory training courses.
Even after completion of the probation period it can take up to another year before the engineer is able to work on his own on a wide range of products. This is a period where the company plays the long game while it invests in producing well-rounded engineers that are able to take on the challenges of our most demanding situations.
While some might count this as a cost on the business, Schneider Electric sees this as investment worth making as the average length of service of a senior UPS engineer is more than 10 years, and across all UPS engineers it is more than 7 Years. The result is that customers are able to build long term, personal relationships with engineers – relationships that benefit both parties.
As a customer you want a known UPS engineer that you know you can lean on for support. They need to be a trusted advisor and someone you have confidence in. From the engineers’ point of view, site familiarisation is important. And having a full understanding of site procedures as well as knowing electrical/ communication dependencies with the UPS system is invaluable. Without long-term relationships, none of this would not be possible.
As a rule, Schneider Electric UPS engineers only work on Schneider Electric products and solutions. This day-to-day routine builds vital experience and leads to confident product experts. Engineering expertise is not diluted by having to work on other manufacturer’s products were support can sometimes be non existent leading to prolonged fix times or even load loss.
HSE – important considerations
Health and Safety as well as the welfare of employees and possible impact on customers must not be taken lightly. Every new UPS Service Engineer is required to attend a Health and Safety course at one of our training facilities. Every engineer is subject to audits and continuous training. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is an area where there should be no compromise.
Every field service engineer knows that availability is a function of mean time between failure (MTBF) and mean time to repair (MTTR). Equipping engineers with a good quality toolset and top of the range test instrumentation is essential for speedy diagnosis of issues and minimised downtime. Schneider Electric, for example, supplies each engineer with a tool kit and PPE with a value of around £6000. Again, a significant investment, but one which is easily substantiated by the cost of data centre downtime to the customer’s business.
Reporting
Commissioning and maintaining a UPS is a highly skilled and technical job. Any customer is perfectly at liberty to demand a professional and easily assimilated report of proposed works and outcomes. A scrappy single-page handwritten report on completion of the job is simply not acceptable where there is such high reliance on IT systems.
Schneider Electric has developed a bespoke reporting tool – called ‘Maint’ – which provides reports on all types of activities associated with UPS systems including commissioning, preventative maintenance and battery maintenance. Depending on activity type, a twenty page report is produced which includes a detailed status, health check, settings, power quality measurements, voltage and current waveforms, work carried out and follow-up corrective or preventative measures. A soft copy of the report can either be left on a flash drive or emailed as required, allowing customers quick access to reports and the ability to build an electronic history.
Advice for specifiers
The next time you consider buying a UPS, it’s worth considering the benefits of the service organisation that comes with the product. A knowledgeable and competent UPS service engineer can add a great deal of value to your business – but you need to be assured they have technical ability coupled with experience, tools and a support structure around them to provide best level of service you and your data centre demands. The UPS supports your critical load, but are you entirely confident in who supports your UPS?
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