The Roles And Responsibilities Of Project Managers
When you are building a data center for your business, one of the most important roles to fill is that of project manager. Without a qualified, competent project manager, the new data center construction process can easily encounter delays, extra expenses, and frustration.
The project manager will be responsible for the data center design and implementation, coordinating several key vendors, employees, and construction processes to ensure that the data center is done right, and completed on schedule. This article discusses some of the additional roles and responsibilities that a project manager may fulfill.
The project manager will be involved in every step of the process, from project conception through the whole construction process. Often this includes phases of preparation, data center design, acquisition of materials, and implementation. A well-qualified project manager will be skilled in areas like scheduling, managing resources, identifying and training employees for their scope of responsibilities, budget planning and implementation, and reporting.
Phase 1: Planning. If possible, involve the project manager in the data center design planning process as early as possible. Early on in the planning process, you may conduct a needs assessment or other tool to determine the feasibility of constructing your own data center and not have a project manager on board yet, but once you determine you will be building a data center and delve into conceptual planning, having the eventual manager on board will save time so he or she doesn’t have to play catch up when they begin.
Phase 2: Design. During this phase, the project manager will be working closely with top management to initialize the project, identifying the necessary requirements for the data center, and finalizing the proposal so all parties at the company are aware of the scope and plans for the data center. In many cases, this can also be a blueprint for creating RFPs (request for proposals) for the different vendors who will be bidding on the project.
Phase 3: Acquisition. This is an important phase of the data center design and construction process, when the final site coordination takes place and vendors are chosen to deliver the necessary components of the eventual data center. A project manager will be working with upper management to determine the final site where the data center will be located, then coordinating all of the bids from vendors and overseeing the delivery of materials and goods so the project will run smoothly once the next phase begins.
Phase 4: Implementation. This phase is the most critical of all, when the project manager will be actively coordinating employees and outside vendors in the construction process to build both the inside and outside of the data center. Once building construction is complete, this phase also includes setting up all the equipment inside, network testing, start-up, and eventually training all the company’s employees, particularly in the IT department.
A great project manager will provide leadership and direction for data center design. Throughout the project, the manager will continuously be looking for ways to streamline the process and identify efficiencies and cost savings along the way. It is an important role to fill, and finding the right person for the job can be critical to the success of any data center build project.
Here is a project gallery of Data Center Design & Build
