CDFOM case studies
CDFOM · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The Certified Data Centre Facilities Operations Manager (CDFOM) is a professional credential aimed at people who run the operational side of a data centre rather than its design. It suits facilities managers, operations managers, shift leaders and senior engineers who are accountable for day-to-day service delivery, maintenance regimes, security, staffing and continuity. The CDFOM case studies are 6 cases and about 4,597 words.
1The 38-Minute Outage That Became "Planned Maintenance"
You are the operations manager for a 4 MW colocation hall housing 62 tenants. Each caged suite carries a contractual guarantee of 99.982% monthly availability, with a 10% monthly recurring charge (MRC) credit for any breach.
728 words, about 4 min2Battery String at End of Life: Patch It or Replace It
Two 1.0 MW UPS systems each support two strings of 40 twelve-volt VRLA blocks, 160 blocks in total, commissioned in 2019 against a five-year design life at 25°C. The battery room runs 28–30°C through summer.
705 words, about 4 min3Unescorted Contractor in the White Space at 02:40
At 02:40 a chiller maintenance contractor is found alone inside the white space of a 3.2 MW hall, having entered through a secure door that a cleaning operative held open. The contractor's badge is valid for the plant room only.
677 words, about 3 min4One Authorised Person and Three Weeks of Leave
A 6.5 MW data centre runs two 12-hour shifts with eight technicians, a supervisor, and a contract requiring at least two qualified persons on site at all times. Of the eight technicians, only one holds the high-voltage switching authorisation for the 11 kV intake, and he starts three weeks of pre-booked leave next Monday.
727 words, about 4 min5Audit Finds 37% of Changes Without Evidence
An internal audit covering ISO 9001 and a client-mandated data centre standard samples 240 changes raised in the past year. Eighty-nine (37%) have no evidence of authorisation, 31 have no post-implementation review, and 14 were emergency changes that were never retrospectively approved.
723 words, about 4 min6Headroom, Hot Racks and a Generator That Would Not Start
A hall carries 1.8 MW of IT load. Power is three 1.0 MW UPS modules configured N+1, giving 2.0 MW usable; cooling is 2.2 MW of installed CRAH capacity with N+1 redundancy, which yields only 1.65 MW usable.
1,037 words, about 5 min