Birds are chirping, flowers are blooming and spring is in the air.  Yard sales will soon become Saturday morning’s most prolific event for homeowners set on cleaning out their clutter. Are you taking the same steps to clean up your IT environment?  At this point, you may have just finished setting up some of the precious new IT equipment that you weren't able to squeeze into the 2016 budget or you’re beginning to finalize your spend for this year.  Regardless of your situation, here are a few tips to be more successful in your IT spring cleaning adventure and prepare for a more productive 2017.

1. Examine your infrastructure: Take a closer look at your needs. A big part of spending your 2017 budget effectively is understanding what needs to be upgraded or added most urgently.  In order to do so properly, you’ll need to assess your environment.  Take a detailed inventory including not only servers, switch and storage components; but also the power infrastructure, cabling, and environmental aspects of your IT infrastructure.
   
   
2. Define fault points: Reducing points of failure within your IT infrastructure is critical to maintaining business continuity. As you’re preparing to deploy new equipment or evaluating the needs for your 2017 spend, take a moment to recognize potential points of failure:
   
   
   1. Has your UPS been alarm gone off over the past few months, begging and pleading for a new battery? It may be time for battery or even unit replacement. 
      
   2. Have you repeatedly received over temperature alarms within your rack enclosures? Take this time to more properly balance your equipment within the rack in hopes of alleviating these problems.
      
   3. Have you been paying close attention to power consumption? Take a close look at, not only your UPSs but your monitoring software and rack power distribution units (PDUs). Take advantage of the capabilities your technology offers. For instance, turn off unused outlets on your PDUs and better control your power utilization if possible.
      
   4. Have you checked all plugs and connection points? Take a moment to make sure all plugs and connections secure, as well as electrically sound from a safety standpoint.
      
      
3. Tidy up while you’re at it: As you're adding, removing and relocating equipment within the rack, address any needs you have around cable management. Tighten and replace cabling where applicable, utilize free space behind the cooling components of your server, switch components to better improve airflow, and use cable ties to secure network and power cabling infrastructure to the sides of your enclosure.

IT maintenance is a must, whether it’s your network closet itself or the equipment that resides in it, so try to schedule a reoccurring time to do some technology housekeeping. It will not only help you on a daily basis, but it will look like you truly value your company’s investment. Who doesn’t like getting kudos from the boss? I hope these 3 tips are helpful reminders that you can put to use. What are some of your most efficient cleaning tips?