At what point do you decide to go over your bosses head?

[master_shake_]

when all hell breaks loose sub-ordinates are the first to go.

get your resume in order.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Sounds like the OP is regularly testing the system. Is there some requirement written in to this compliance that states a data center must contract with a 3rd party to support and maintain backup power systems? I don't see how they'd fail the audit if they can document that they're doing periodic testing. Maintenance is likely minimal and I would guess that going several months without touching a thing is typical.

If I'm reading this right....

Today, I ran a generator test and the engine threw an error code that i cannot diagnose. I do not have diagnostic capabilities nor the ability to troubleshoot this system

... then they might already be violating whatever quality of service agreements they have with customers. Just because they haven't been caught yet doesn't mean they aren't liable.

 

[Carson Dyle]

If I'm reading this right....

Today, I ran a generator test and the engine threw an error code that i cannot diagnose. I do not have diagnostic capabilities nor the ability to troubleshoot this system

... then they might already be violating whatever quality of service agreements they have with customers. Just because they haven't been caught yet doesn't mean they aren't liable.

I asked previously if the generator actually failed to operate. If it did fail, then it's unfathomable how the company could fail to bring in technicians to fix it. I got the impression that he just saw an error code during the test.

Something odd is going on there. Either the boss is a complete idiot, or there are things going on in the company that the OP knows nothing about.

 

[DaveSimmons]

The point is the OP doesn't know whether it's really working properly or not. The error code could be "bearings overheating" or "fuel line fouled, explosion imminent" even though it seemed to start up.

 

[pete6032]

Similar situations have happened to me before and issues are resolved with a quick boss' boss discussion, but it really depends on how much of a relationship you have with that person. In my case I work with my boss' boss regularly.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

Work in a tech company with a NOC. NOC is 24/7/365 mission critical operation/QUOTE]
I never understood this. Hours/days-in-week/days-in-year. If you are going to include a 'days in XXX' why do it twice? Isn't 24x365 enough? Do NOC folks think others cannot understnad that by covering 365 days [a year] this includes all days of the week?

 

[sourceninja]

...

 

[John Connor]

If it were me I'd say fuck the boss and go to his boss. I don't work and make a living to make relationships that teeter on whether I'll have a paycheck or not.

Just my two cents.

 

[Zee]

there's almost never reason outside of malfeasance. its quite likely your bosses boss, already knows.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Tsk, tsk, it's obvious you're not a team player and don't understand the "big picture. " /sarcasm
By all means go up the chain however, I'd be looking for an exit strategy. There is exactly zero chance your boss's boss is unaware of the situation.

 

[Carson Dyle]

There is exactly zero chance your boss's boss is unaware of the situation.

Which is almost exactly the same as saying "it's not your job to be worrying about such things". And that's exactly correct. The power goes out, the entire data center goes down ... IT WASN'T YOUR JOB. If that happens, maybe you get a day off. Or maybe some nice overtime.

I remember some years ago we were getting read to move some servers into a new datacenter and our research turned up an incident where the entire f'n datacenter was down for something like two days. (!!!!) We asked for an explanation and (IIRC) the story was that they were upgrading their power systems and during the work there was a short and a fire and it torched the main power bar into the facility. These guys had redundant backup generators and didn't matter ... the very piece of the infrastructure they were working on to add additional redundancy went down and it went down big. We had two ways to view this. Either: "These people are total f*ckups." or "What are the chances of that ever happening again?" We went with the latter and the facility worked out great.

 

[John Connor]

If this contract has been renewed repeatedly in past years, there's a reason why it hasn't been renewed yet. I'm sure there are multiple people in your company that are aware of the situation b/c the generator company would be contacting multiple people in your company to renew. If a requisition has been put in for the renewal, it could be held up by any of the approvers or even legal. I'd just continue to document your communication with your supervisor in regards to the error and needing a technician. Going over his head, could cost you your job.

Are you seriously this stupid? If the generator/UPS goes out HE WON'T HAVE A JOB!

 

[NetWareHead]

The point is the OP doesn't know whether it's really working properly or not. The error code could be "bearings overheating" or "fuel line fouled, explosion imminent" even though it seemed to start up.

This. No diagnostic capability here. Just see a trouble LED and a tech will know how to diagnose. Otherwise the test did complete "successfully". Im making a big deal of this because I have no idea of the seriousness of the error. With the expectation on me to pass the recertification in October, I want this latest error documented.

 

[NetWareHead]

Are you seriously this stupid? If the generator/UPS goes out HE WON'T HAVE A JOB!

Pretty this is the reason why I am stressed and making such a big deal. Pretty pissed at my company's inaction. And if/when shit happens, I'll be the one who has to catch it. I could cover my ass to the moon and back with proof of communication, but if we lose customers, I might be out of a job anyway.

Its unrealistic to expect me to deliver a solution to this issue without a support contract. Its unfair for me to stake my professional reputation and livelihood on miraculously delivering the uptime our customers require when Im forced to work with zero budget and then I might pay the consequences of such a failure.

I think its time to start looking.

 

[zinfamous]

Ive said this already albeit in professional polite language suitable for an office environment and minus the dick part.

We've already missed 2 of our quarterly preventative maintenance inspections due tolack of contract and are on track to miss the third this year. Generator engine needs an oil change. The lack of maintenance is maddening.

and you're still wondering why he won't listen?

 

[Capt Caveman]

Are you seriously this stupid? If the generator/UPS goes out HE WON'T HAVE A JOB!

No, you're the stupid one as you're nothing but a low intelligent grunt. I have to deal with contract renewals for the systems that I support. These maintenance companies want their annual support revenue stream and will work their way up the hierarchy to get their contract renewed so they can send you an invoice.

 

[NetWareHead]

No, you're the stupid one as you're nothing but a low intelligent grunt. I have to deal with contract renewals for the systems that I support. These maintenance companies want their annual support revenue stream and will work their way up the hierarchy to get their contract renewed so they can send you an invoice.

I'd say you are generally correct but in this case, I am the contact at my company for the maintenance companies. The generator and UPS are my areas of responsibility and I am the liaison between them and my company. They wont go bothering anyone else if I dont renew the contract. They continue to bother me for the renewal.

 

[ultimatebob]

Yeah, this sounds like where I work. My manager failed to renew the support contract on the database platform we use, and now I can't open a support ticket for a problem I'm having with a database server upgrade. My manager still wants the work done ASAP, but I can't call up the vendor for help.

The whole platform is end of life anyway, so we're basically screwed if it crashes and we have problems restoring from our backups.

 

[Capt Caveman]

I'd say you are generally correct but in this case, I am the contact at my company for the maintenance companies. The generator and UPS are my areas of responsibility and I am the liaison between them and my company. They wont go bothering anyone else if I dont renew the contract. They continue to bother me for the renewal.

And don't you have to put in a requisition for an approval to get a PO generated to give to the contract company to invoice you? You seem to be leaving some stuff out.

 

[NetWareHead]

And don't you have to put in a requisition for an approval to get a PO generated to give to the contract company to invoice you? You seem to be leaving some stuff out.

At my company, POs are only used for new equipment or new builds. Maintenance on existing equipment doesn't need a PO, since its been approved already. Maintenance contracts and their estimated cost are submitted the year before to help plans the next years budget; something I did in 2015 for 2016.

 

[ultimatebob]

I'd say you are generally correct but in this case, I am the contact at my company for the maintenance companies. The generator and UPS are my areas of responsibility and I am the liaison between them and my company. They wont go bothering anyone else if I dont renew the contract. They continue to bother me for the renewal.

So... are you going to ASK your manager again WHY he isn't bothering to renew the support contract?

Odds are that he forgot to renew it, and/or you haven't properly explained the consequences of having a flaky generator that isn't being maintained. I'd explain this again, and follow it up in writing to cover your ass.

If you STILL don't get back a good answer, then you can escalate as needed. If you don't have the balls to do it yourself, get someone else do it for you.

 

[Capt Caveman]

At my company, POs are only used for new equipment or new builds. Maintenance on existing equipment doesn't need a PO, since its been approved already. Maintenance contracts and their estimated cost are submitted the year before to help plans the next years budget; something I did in 2015 for 2016.

Then they have sent you an invoice since you're the contact person and you've given it to accounts payable to be paid?

 

[Micrornd]

I have never worked at any company where I was so isolated that I couldn't find out why my boss made a decision, that I had to rely on just him to tell me why.
Do you not have any "friends" there.
Gossip is everything in large companies (taken with a grain, of course)

 

[Rifter]

If this generator and UPS were my direct responsibility then for sure i would have:

1) documented me going to my manager 3 times for the first 3 months, id bother him once a month, e-mails etc. make sure in writing
2) if no response within those 3 months id go over his head

If this idiot manager wants to risk his job im ok with that but by the sounds of it hes risking the whole company so no way id sit back and let that fly, i value my job.

 

[ultimatebob]

I have never worked at any company where I was so isolated that I couldn't find out why my boss made a decision, that I had to rely on just him to tell me why.
Do you not have any "friends" there.
Gossip is everything in large companies (taken with a grain, of course)

Yeah, he's acting like he's in some isolation cage where his boss is his only contact to the rest of the world.

There HAS to be another manager or HR person he can go to with his concerns. If not, there has to be a suggestion box or someone he can address his concerns with.