Contamination and OEM warranties

Contamination and OEM warranties

A bank in New York recently lost a $50k warranty claim because they could not prove that they had maintained their data centre equipment to an accepted standard of cleanliness. OEMs have increasingly being recognising the threat that contamination poses to ICT equipment they are supplying into data centres. In the US, they have started sending out loss adjusters to audit their clients’ data centres before fulfilling claims for warranty equipment failures. If the data centre operator cannot demonstrate that his ICT equipment environment has consistently been kept contamination free to a measured and certified level such as ISO 14644-1, his warranty is void and replacement equipment claim denied.