Originally posted to Data Center Frontier by Voices of the Industry.
According to multiple studies, human error accounts for 60 to 80 percent of all downtime events. It’s a huge problem that cannot be overlooked, and oftentimes data centers will try to design around human error instead of directly confronting it as a phenomenon that can be mitigated or eliminated.
The unfortunate truth is that some in the data center industry would rather you spend money, not on training, but on complex PLCs and over-redundant designs to try to circumnavigate human error instead of fixing it head on. Engineers and contractors will insist that they have solved the human error problem with design and they stand to make plenty of money from those they manage to convince. The fact remains that even the most well intentioned personnel can manage to make mistakes in spite of the complexity and redundancy of the design or piece of technology standing in their way.
Human error can be difficult to combat, and it takes a significant amount of time and effort, but in the long run, it is far less costly than the futile attempts to fight human error with data center design.
Data centers that are looking for an easy or quick fix should know that one doesn’t exist. The article below won’t offer a checklist, nor a collection of best practices, but a description of the psychology behind the elimination of human error and some advice on how to achieve the necessary mindset and culture to protect against it.
To read the full article, please click here.
