Give your vendors access to your platform and they become trusted partners. Today’s data center facilities teams use a combination of internal engineers and outside vendors for equipment maintenance. Using vendors is a sound business decision; you get specialized expertise at a reduced cost. But what happens when you rely on your outside vendors for updates? How are they communicating? Are they using spreadsheets, emails, and phone calls? If you’re managing vendors, you probably realize that stand-alone point solutions are not the answer. You need a platform that connects your facilities and space management processes with the vendors you use to maintain it all. One Connected Platform for All Your Vendor Management Needs Nuvolo Connected Workplace enables you to better manage your data center’s assets and spaces. It is Built on NOW™ and includes essential vendor management capabilities. The key to success is sharing the platform with your vendors. They use a self-service portal to complete assigned work orders. Gaining control over your vendor management process means vital data center facilities tasks fall into place. Accurate Equipment Inventory and Management Reliable and consistent tracking of all critical facility assets is the foundation of a well-run data center maintenance program. If you’re relying on your vendors to update you when they fix an issue so that you can manually update your software or spreadsheet, your data will probably be missing or wrong. However, when your vendors share your platform and can make updates directly, your asset database becomes more accurate. On the shared mobile application, no matter who does the work, the data is captured at the time of service, providing real-time equipment service updates. That’s when the chain reaction starts. Once vendor and equipment data are accurate, technicians and contractors can complete work orders faster. Faster Corrective Maintenance Work is done faster when technicians share your platform. They have instant access to service manuals, knowledge bases, spare parts inventory, training videos, and more. The mobile app has interactive data center floor plans so they can easily navigate to any location and asset. They complete the assigned work, submit invoices, and can track their performance. As they update their work orders on your mobile app, they capture the equipment service history you would otherwise be missing. When assets, vendors, and work data are captured on one platform, you can create smart dispatching. Smart dispatching uses workflows and business rules to automatically route work orders to the right vendor at the right time. When unmanned data center alarms are triggered, smart dispatching automatically assigns the work to the nearest technician in the field with the right machine certification. Well-Designed Preventive Maintenance When you have complete asset and vendor data, you’re able to design a well-structured preventative maintenance plan. Smart dispatching automates this process, too. Preventive work orders can be auto-routed based on date, location, certifications, vendor preference, asset performance, etc. All the intelligence that’s captured with the vendors’ work is used to understand equipment performance better and create more efficient maintenance schedules. In addition, your vendors can utilize checklists when performing periodic inspection tasks, such as safety equipment inspection or custodial rounds. If a checklist item fails, a work order is automatically created, and the vendor is alerted and dispatched through the mobile app. This speeds up the work order process and takes the burden off your internal staff. Reporting and Financials One of the most important parts of a shared vendor platform is analytics. With clean data, you’re able to better plan capacity, improve response times, and save on operating expenses. Use analytics to manage equipment and parts costing, analyze equipment lifecycles, and reconcile work orders against actual service performed. You can also track vendor travel costs, service levels, and contract spend. Create dashboards to spot trends, identify problem equipment, track labor utilization, and efficiently manage vendor resources. Improve vendor performance and then create a data center improvement plan built on accurate business intelligence. That’s the power of Nuvolo Connected Workplace. Interested in learning more? See how STACK EMEA brought its data center maintenance processes onto one platform. Plus, explore how one government agency modernized its data center management, and learn how a leading provider of data center solutions implemented a Connected Workplace model. Share
