- Name of Partner: NTMA
- Contact: Ken Jordan, John O´Donovan
- Type of Business: Government Agency
Background
The mission of the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) is to manage public assets and liabilities commercially and prudently. The organisation’s responsibilities include managing the National Debt and the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund.
In 2018 the organisation was planning a move from Treasury Building in Dublin to No. 1 Dublin Landings, North Wall Quay, which was due to take place in Q3, 2019. An RFT was issued on The Official Journal of the European Community, which publishes tenders over €220,000.
The scope of works included the supply, installation and maintenance of ICT equipment room infrastructure at the new premises.
Total Power Solutions tendered for the project and ultimatelythe company was awarded the contract. Paul Kavanagh from Total Power Solutions managed the delivery of the project for Total Power Solutions, working with Ken Jordan, Head of Transformation at NTMA and John O’Donovan, Head of ICT Operations.
We spoke with Ken and John to learn about their experience of working with TPS over the course of the project.
The Outcome
And what was NTMA’s experience of working with TPI over the course of the project?
We were very impressed with how Total Power Solutions handled the work. First up, Paul was really hands-on and the fact that he was so accessible and responsive helped facilitate the level of flexibility we needed for this project – to align their work with the fit-out scheduling.
And then there was the range of engineers Total Power Solutions was able to make available, often at short notice – all of them highly trained and capable. We definitely felt that the work was in safe hands, and that’s essential when you are dealing with power.
Ken, we haven’t mentioned the equipment – were you satisfied it met the requirements in practice?
When Total Power Solutions was appointed obviously they had proposed equipment based on our requirements so we understood it met all the criteria. But it’s not until a system is functioning that you can really assess its effectiveness. There was a phased opening of the facilities and all the staff were moved into the building over Summer 2019. The official opening took place in Nov. 2019.
In the event, we already know that the overall solution turned out to be more energy efficient and cost efficient than we had anticipated and we are all delighted about that. Some of this is down to the performance of the equipment itself but also the way in which Total Power Solutions designed the Hot Aisle Containment solution has had a major impact on performance.
We believe this equipment room infrastructure represents a “Best in Class” solution for the power requirements of this facility. We are just looking at the first annual maintenance cycle now and regular preventative maintenance, provided by Total Power Solutions, will be key to optimising the use and effectiveness of the equipment over the years to come.
Final words John?
Well I think what any client wants in this situation is for a project to be delivered within the quoted costs, on schedule and to have confidence in the expertise of the delivery team and the high quality equipment supplied.
To have better-than-anticipated cost and energy savings is a real bonus. We’ve been more than satisfied with Total Power Solutions. Highly recommended!
The Project
Ken, what was the Scope of Works at the outset?
The tender document was very comprehensive in this respect and it laid out the core requirements as follows
- Supply of equipment racks.
- Provision of uninterrupted power supplies. (UPS) and Power Distribution Units (PDUs)
- Provision of cooling facilities. (MER only)
- Provision of environmental monitoring.
- Installation services.
- On-going maintenance and support
One of the most important aspects of the service required was the ability of the provider to be flexible in terms of the delivery and installation of the equipment. Mac-Group was responsible for the over-all fit-out of the building so it was essential for all three of us to work closely together to co-ordinate the schedule. Sometimes the lead time was longer than originally planned and we anticipated this in the tender, specifying that the supplier would need to be able to adjust to the fit-out programme.
Once the installation was completed and the equipment commissioned, the project scope also included a three year maintenance contract, with the option for this to be extended for a further two years.
John, what were the key considerations in appointing a supplier?
Well the selection criteria was clearly set out in the tender document – as you would expect in a large-scale project like this. The right technical solution, the planned implementation, the support and maintenance service and of course the cost were all Award Criteria. And it was a highly competitive tender.
We were keen to achieve a future-proofed solution that was as energy efficient as possible tooso we had specified a Hot Aisle Containment configuration and we were looking for a supplier who had the capability to produce an optimal design for this, given the Main Equipment Room (MER) floor space available.
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