Improvement of data center project development process

Abstract

Project development process of client company was identified by the organization to meet the demand for rapidly growing data center industry, process would require improvement to allow scaling up. Current state of the process and main non-value providing elements were required to be mapped allowing formation of the clear picture which elements were the most essential for the improvement. Lean thinking was used for the process development and goal was to form a project development manual to standardize the process.

Qualitative and quantitative methods were used for data collection to allow analyzing the current state of the process within the organization and to identify activities that consume most time by using eight waste philosophy of Lean. Various professionals within data center industry were interviewed regarding data center project development in Finland to gain deeper understanding of the challenges and key factors that impact the process.

Results gained in the research contained information regarding current state and which waste factors consume most of the time from the project development. Research provided also information regarding data center project development as phenomenon in today’s Finland. Project development manual was formed, based on the information gained from relevant literature, survey and thematic interviews.

Information gathered into the project development manual reflects accordingly the situation in the data center project development in Finland and provided standardized basis for client company’s project development process. The research provided robust base for the future development of the organizations’ processes.