To many people, the image conjured up when you say control room is one of multiple TV monitors, and audio control boards, and producers and directors scurrying around as they broadcast a football game. To a smaller subset, control room may connote a network operations center.
Regardless of the size of the control room, or the company, there are several things that firms should do to reduce the risk level they face. For example, flexibility: remotely managing the devices that are part of the control room system adds a physical security layer, giving you the flexibility to separate the devices from the users. Those management systems should only enable authorized users to access specific devices or the information contained on them, or even specific functions like controlling access to vmedia. On a more technical level, locating the devices in a centralized location separate from the control room also enables staffers to better control factors, including heating and cooling, that can increase the lifespan of the devices as well as ensure uptime.
Theres also downtime. Remotely managing your networked devices gives you an overall view of how things are running. When theres a problem, the source of the problem can be quickly identified and addressed. In our acronym-crazed industry, two combinations are apropos: MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) and MTTR (Mean Time to Repair). An effectively run data center, remotely managed, can slash downtime to mere seconds, via redundant, mirrored devices. MTBF happens. Its important to keep MTTR as low as possible.
Finally, centralized remote access can enable you to cut your costs by sharply reducing the number of machines needed. And if you can manage those machines remotely, youre prepared for the worst before it hits. An outage on one key machine can be rapidly rectified with a few keystrokes, switching the functionality to a centrally located standby system. If thats the case, your IT staff can focus on more important, strategic functions instead of merely standing by, just waiting for the worst to happen.
