Data centre delivery: why consistency matters from design to day-to-day operations
Director of data centres Steve Clifford explores how end-to-end data centre design, building and maintenance is essential for achieving data centre uptime and optimisation.
Resilience and reliability aren’t “nice to haves” in a data centre. They’re non-negotiable. Yet when delivery is fragmented across a patchwork of supply chain suppliers, the risks of miscommunication, delays and downtime rise sharply.
Taking an end-to-end approach – where one accountable team designs, builds and maintains a facility – is the surest way to achieve the continuity data centres demand.
The urgency is clear. In Europe alone, demand for data centre capacity is expected to grow by 855MW – a 22 per cent year-on-year increase. As workloads rise and new technologies accelerate demand, resilience becomes more difficult to achieve, and more valuable when secured.
Designing and building for the long term
Before a data centre can be built, teams face hurdles such as limited grid capacity, constrained land supply and long planning approvals. Add compliance requirements, including ISO frameworks, local authority regulations, and Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) standards, and the early design phase becomes pivotal.
Good design isn’t just about technical drawings. It means shaping a facility around the customer’s business case, anticipating risks, factoring in expansion, and ensuring compliance from the outset with health and safety always at forefront of considerations. Selecting suppliers who can stay with the project beyond mobilisation helps maintain a clear line from blueprint to operations.
Sometimes, retrofitting existing facilities is faster and more cost-effective than new-builds, cutting costs by up to 40 per cent and shortening programmes timelines by around 30 per cent. But building in live environments demands particular care.
In one of our recent projects, engineers developed a 1,000m² data hall inside an existing facility without disrupting business-as-usual. By modelling airflow and installing 380V DC power systems, the team delivered 136 cabinets (exceeding the target of 130) and achieved 96.2 per cent achievement across rectifiers and converters – all while IT systems were phased in early.
Maintaining continuity in critical environments
In sectors such as defence, continuity is everything. Critical infrastructure maintenance requires 24/7 engineering presence, proactive maintenance management, comprehensive systems monitoring, a strategic critical spares strategy, and a robust incident management process.
The advantage of an end-to-end approach is that the same team involved at the design stage stays close to the operation. They know why decisions were made, can anticipate potential issues, and act quickly when challenges arise. Practices such as phased integration, 3D modelling to coordinate designs, and time-lapse visualisations to keep stakeholders updated all help minimise risk.
Asset management in these environments demands strict maintenance scheduling and complete risk transparency. Weekly client meetings, for example, provide assurance and keep trust intact.
People at the centre of performance
Technology and systems are only part of the picture. Engineers who understand a facility inside out are just as critical. That’s why training, professional development and engagement are fundamental to sustaining performance over the long term.
When teams are motivated and skilled, they develop deeper site expertise and can respond faster to emerging issues. For one defence-grade data centre customer, this continuity has delivered a measurable outcome: 100 per cent uptime over eight years of operation.
Looking ahead: designing for change
End-to-end service delivery also makes it easier to adapt as requirements evolve. With sustainability, energy efficiency and scalability becoming more pressing, continuity of service ensures upgrades are introduced seamlessly.
AI and high-performance computing are pushing rack densities higher, creating new demands for cooling, airflow and power. At the same time, operators are embedding smart systems – IoT sensors, real-time monitoring and predictive analytics – to give better visibility of energy use and asset performance. These tools support smarter operations and measurable returns, but only if integrated effectively.
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