Business Challenge
In the data center business, continuous critical systems uptime is everything. Customers rely on their colocation facility to house their critical IT systems—which include servers, storage, and network equipment—and provide the utilities, communications infrastructure, and physical security they need.
In 2010, FORTRUST began a rapid expansion—growing up to 40% annually. Because facility maintenance is the backbone of the company’s services, it became clear they needed a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) to effectively handle the expansion of installed equipment and the corresponding maintenance tasks.
“We had to keep up with our rapid growth,” explained Joe Harris, FORTRUST’s critical systems lead. “The Excel spreadsheets just weren’t cutting it.”
Solution
Originally, the facility maintenance team toyed with creating a custom, in-house database to manage their electrical and mechanical systems. But a little Internet research changed their minds.
“MPulse had everything we needed, and more,” Joe said.
In late 2011, FORTRUST purchased MPulse Silver Edition plus Advanced Inventory Control and the Keys & Locks module. This affordable, powerful, easy-to-use software provided all the features they needed to keep their data center running at peak efficiency 24/7:
- Work Order Management
- Maintenance Requesting
- Repair Parts Inventory
- Dashboards & Reporting
- Preventive Maintenance, and
- Much, much more
Preventive Maintenance and Work Order Management
After the MPulse implementation, FORTRUST facility maintenance employees established a comprehensive preventive maintenance (PM) program to ensure manufacturers’ recommended maintenance tasks happened on time on all their critical assets. And MPulse’s work order management features made it easier to approve, assign, schedule, and manage maintenance.
Today, FORTRUST has nearly a 100% monthly work order completion rate. “MPulse improves our accountability because work orders are much easier to track,” explained Jeff Killcoyne, FORTRUST facilities technician. “Also, since we work 24/7, I don’t see everyone I work with. MPulse creates a pass-down of information, so people know what has happened and what needs to happen when they come on shift.”
Inventory Tracking
FORTRUST’s facility maintenance team also launched an inventory control program with MPulse. They’re now able to monitor inventory consumption by simply linking part usage to work orders with MPulse PartLink™. And they can easily check stock levels of any part or supply. They also began to track and store vendor information. As a result, FORTRUST has reduced its inventory expenditures by 30% in just 5 years.
“We have a limited amount of storage space,” Joe explained. “Before MPulse, we noticed we were keeping a lot of stuff on hand that we didn’t need, and then we had to throw it out because it had a limited shelf life. That costs money. With MPulse, we know which parts are more beneficial to order on an as-needed basis, which ones we should keep on hand, and which ones need longer lead times.”
Asset Management & Tracking
FORTRUST also uses MPulse’s asset management & tracking features to track everything from computers to security cameras to biometric readers and HVAC systems.
“We keep records of everything we have and where’s it’s located,” Joe explained. “We store the model numbers and serial numbers of all of our equipment, as well as its warranty information. Plus, we’re starting to track how much we spend on asset repairs, so we’ll know when it’s time to replace things.”
Facility Management
MPulse provided other key benefits for the facility maintenance team, too.
- Role-Based Control: FORTRUST uses MPulse’s Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) Extension Module so maintenance personnel see only the records relevant to their unique workloads.
- Security: Security is paramount to data center services, so FORTRUST uses MPulse Key and Lock Management to prevent lost or misplaced keys. “With MPulse, we know exactly who has what assigned to them,” Jeff said.
- Vendor Management: One of the maintenance team’s biggest challenges is booking vendors to visit the site and complete PM tasks. “With MPulse, we can see the schedule beforehand, so we know who needs to come out when,” Jeff explained.
- Media Integration: FORTRUST maintenance personnel also add links in MPulse to maintenance manuals, internal documents, vendor websites, and more. All the information is stored within the asset record, so it’s easily accessible the next time around.
“Future-Proofing” with MPulse
FORTRUST’s business strategy is built on the concept of creating reliability, providing business value, providing a high level of customer service and mitigating risk (which they call “future-proofing”). The company specifically designed its data center colocation solutions to grow and expand quickly, and its continuous critical systems uptime service record is a key component of FORTRUST’s customer service and marketing strategy.
Company officials attribute their success to FORTRUST’s people, processes, and operations—particularly the facility maintenance team. In turn, the facility maintenance team is quick to acknowledge how MPulse Maintenance Software has transformed their workflow and improved their efficiency in so many areas. “MPulse is our go-to resource,” Joe said. “We couldn’t do our jobs without it.”
- Work Order Completion Rate: 95-100% per month
- Preventive Maintenance Completion Rate: 100% per month
- Reduction in Inventory Expenditures: 30% annually
Company Bio
FORTRUST (fortrustdatacenter.com) was founded in 2000 to meet the growing need for data center services. As a colocation provider, the company provides reliable conditioned power, cooling, and security for companies looking to host their IT systems offsite as their primary or disaster recovery site. The Uptime Institute has awarded FORTRUST’s Denver, CO, data center a Tier III Gold Certification for Constructed Facility.
The company employs 50 people, 10 of whom work as facilities staff members. These employees are responsible for maintaining all aspects of the facility, including HVAC, electrical power equipment, and security systems. The company is proud of its record of providing over 15 years of continuous critical systems uptime to customers across the globe from its Denver data center.
