The Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) program is a contracting program that aims to increase the access small businesses from economically underprivileged areas in the United States have to government contracts. In other words, the HUBZone program helps communities with business and economic development. This assistance helps reduce issues like unemployment and homelessness and benefits everyone from the government to the citizens.

As you know, properly maintaining your data center is critical. The importance of data centers to business operations is continually increasing. The better you can maintain your data center, the more efficiently it will run, and the lower your overhead for things like electricity will be. You can then pass those savings on to customers and gain a competitive advantage. Plus, you’ll minimize downtime and your customers will trust you with their sensitive information because of your impeccable data center maintenance.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is a global network of 163 national standards bodies (one from each country represented by ISO). These 163 members and the experts that comprise them develop international standards and strategies based on consensus and relevance. Among these international standards is ISO 9001:2015, which governs quality management systems.

Keeping data centers clean is an important part of keeping them up and running. Allowing dirt, dust, and other debris to build up on the plenum beneath the floor that blows cool air upward, the flooring itself designed to eliminate static electricity, and other features that keep the data center functioning puts the entire facility at risk for malfunction and downtime. When your data center goes down, your customer information is at risk as is the reputation and security of your company as a whole. You should adhere to the following data center cleaning best practices to minimize risks and operate your data center efficiently and cost-effectively.

Data center cleaning is critical to keeping data center equipment running efficiently and cost-effectively. Many data center managers are working with budgets of $100 million or more, and the cost of upkeep has increased by 500 percent since 2000. Electricity alone for a 150,000 square foot data center costs approximately $100,000 per year. Every little thing that can be done to help curb these rising costs is critical, including cleaning. Data centers adhere to specific construction standards, and improper cleaning can jeopardize the effectiveness of those data center-specific features. For example, data center flooring is designed to minimize static electricity, but a layer of dirt accumulating on the floor can reduce its ability to curb static.

Janitorial professionals are health care workers. They prevent the spread of diseases by properly cleaning facilities and breaking the transmission routes of pathogenic microorganisms (germs) that cause illnesses such as influenza.

When it comes to maintaining a controlled environment, having the proper cleanroom supplies on hand is critical. You need to know what supplies you need, how many of them you need, how often they need to be replaced, etc. While each cleanroom classification is held to different standards, there are a few general guidelines and common supplies that can help you get started.

Cleanroom environments are unlike any other. They come with challenges and requirements that are specific to their construction, classification, and purpose. Not only do you and your cleaning crew need to have a thorough understanding of the regulations specific to the controlled environment, but so does everyone who enters the room. You need to establish a clear set of rules to follow to limit the amount of particulate in the room, the disruption of particles, and general contamination.

Not all cleanrooms are created equally. There are several different classifications for cleanrooms and each comes with its own standards and regulations. The International Standards Organization (ISO) governs these classifications according to particulate cleanliness. In a nutshell, ISO cleanroom classifications let you know how many particles you’re allowed to have in the cleanroom.

Establishing and adhering to cleanroom protocol is important to keep the integrity of your cleanroom intact. Contaminants can be introduced from a variety of sources, but the most detrimental source of contamination comes from the humans that occupy your cleanroom. The greatest and most affordable resource for keeping those contaminants at bay is ensuring proper protocols are in place.