Coordinator - Co-location.Technology Information at MTN

Mission/Core purpose of the Job

• Working closely with the MTN Executive Leadership Team and the Opco CEOs, the Executive: Group

Mission/Core purpose of the Job

• The Centre of Excellence is looking for co-location administrator to work in the day-to-day management of our co-location facilities and related infrastructure & software. We are looking for an administrator with experience in mechanical & electrical configurations of data centres for enterprise customers.
• You will be responsible for identifying problems, documenting, and solving issues, and working on projects that really make a difference to how we operate.
• The administrator will shadow all Hosting Engineers and adopt the methodologies, learn, and leverage on the experience of the team. We are looking for an administrator to support the team in new projects and support the current production solutions and services.
• The administrator is one who excels in his field and performs all support functionalities. The administrator must be fully aware of administration procedures for both company and technical requirements of a data centre.
• Context (Global influences, environmental / industry demands, organisational mission etc.)     
• This position is influenced by MTN Marketing and Enterprise Business Unit demands and roadmaps. It is also affected by Global Telecommunications Technology changes, trends, influences, and the requirement to remain leaders in the ICT disciplines.
• Highly dynamic and fluctuating Telecommunications and ISP industry
• Implementing, and managing scalable architecture for internal and external customers based on best methodologies in the electrical and mechanical industry
• Highly skilled team of thinkers and tinkerers adopting an ethos of technical problem solving through automation
• Driving constant technical innovation and adoption of cutting-edge technology

Key Performance Areas: Core, essential responsibilities / outputs of the position (KPA's)
Tactical and Operations

• Support and Maintain all the enterprise co-location areas.
• Manage all operating systems, infrastructure and application that run the pillar solutions offered to our enterprise customers
• Ensure the upgrading of existing systems.
• Support systems to achieve the company set Key Performance Indicators
• Work with related stakeholders concerning the prompt restoration or provision of service in full or partial system failures.
• Treat all systems as mission-critical.
• Travel to site for support duties, testing, new installations and upgrades where needed
• Configuration management and system orchestration using MTN’s related systems
• Document system configuration and changes in system configuration.
• Work with the Hosting engineers and vendors to design and implement highly available solutions
• Ensure all area day-to-day tasks are being completed to the required level
• Analyse performance trends and failure impacts on service
• Work with the Hosting Engineers & Vendors to deploy and maintain server infrastructure, virtualisation environment, storage network and application-level network services.
• Replacing and upgrading of end-of-life systems.
• Execute the upgrade and replacement of hardware/software before end-of-life.
• Maintaining knowledge of current technology trends.
• Constantly learning and evaluating technological skills
• Communicate all faults and planned work through the correct channels
• Support Manager Enterprise Co-Location to schedule and implement of maintenance schedules     
• Work with the different teams to approve the outcome of Acceptance Testing results from suppliers.
• Administer the roll out of all software package related to the area.
• Ensure that system utilisation reports are in place and relevant
• Continuously evaluating through correlation and monitoring systems
• Work with the engineers to optimise productivity by automating repetitive tasks.
• Develop and deploy tools or total solutions in aid to business processes and general productivity.

Business Support

• Collaborate and provide business with knowledge of the technical capability of the co-location space
• Implement IS solutions that meet business requirements.
• Ensure timeous resolution of issues.
• Maintaining knowledge of current technology trends.
• Analyse the current business environment to detect critical deficiencies and report on them
• Constantly learning and evaluating technological skills as is relevant to a Tier 1 ISP.

Governance

• Follow all corporate governance procedures in place
• Work with the Specialists to document and test system before promoting to production.
• All changes should be documented and managed for all production environment changes.
• Comply with all security policies defined by MTN
• Ensure that all ICT Operations policies, processes, and procedures are documented, understood, adhered to and continuously maintained.
• Facilitate the auditing process between MTN and vendor to ensure that audit findings are resolved and managed
• Support the integration forums with Revenue Assurance to understand issues, planning and concerns.
• Ensuring vendors adhere to MTN Governance and Processes.

Role Complexity: (additional complexity that is not inherent to the position)

• Highly technical position requiring vast technical knowledge in mechanical and electricals
• High pace of technological advancement/development
• Reliance on 3rd party vendors
• Systems involved directly support a Tier1 ISP and focusing on support and availability aligned with existing network topology
• Must be competent in compiling reports.

Creativities (improvement/innovation inherent) 

• Absolutely self-driven, constantly finding new ways to solve problems, being able to apply technological prowess to solve real world problems arising from the daily operations of the business.
• Has the ability to bridge freely between different technologies and applications
• Continuously review system performance and recommend creative ways to enhance performance
• Lateral, logical thinking, problem solving and troubleshooting
• Innovative ways of investigating the root cause of problems and failures.
• Vulnerabilities (difficulties or factors that influence the position and are out of the position’s control)

Environmental factor (Electricity availability)

• Software bugs
• Mistakes resulting in outage can potentially affect the availability of service to millions of subscribers.
• Standby will be needed for this position due to the size and key needs of the supported environment.

Job Requirements (Education, Experience and Competencies)
Education:

• 3-year degree/diploma in Mechanical or Electrical Engineering
• Certification on Hosting is an added advantage

Experience:

• Minimum 5 years general systems administration experience in a data centre environment
• Experience working in a medium size organization
• Training:

Customer Service Training

Competencies:

Head - Big Picture Focus (10)

• Analytical Thinker -   Manages the alignment and execution of tactical activities
• Problem Solver  -  Assists in solving business challenges but looks to others for advice and guidance
• Operational Value Creator -  Executes on innovative commercial practices and identifies areas for continuous improvement

Heart – Emotionally Intelligent (20)

• Culture and Change Champion -  Role models ethical practices by living the MTN values and vital behaviours for others to follow
• Supportive People Manager – Is self-aware and supports team capability development through opportunity creation for realising potential
• Relationship Manager  -  Builds relationships with customers and teams to uphold the MTN brand

Hands – Results Focused (50)

• Results Achiever  -  Drives team objectives and contributes to sustainability of results
• Operationally Astute -  Clarifies priorities, plans, organizes and co-ordinates the work of others  

Authorities

• Inputs and recommendations into support and maintenance agreements with Vendors etc.
• Analyse performance trends and failure impacts on service.

Collaboration (Formal and Informal Relationships)
Responsibility towards:

• Direct reports – Manager: Enterprise Co-Location Manager
• Key customers – All MTN OPCO’s EBU, MTN SA EBU, MTN COE and all our Corporate Clients
• Key suppliers – Facilities, Boron, Total, Apollo Air, ProTest Electric, Optimal Control System - BMS  & Other Hardware vendors.
• Other Relations – Troubleshooting with all involved Vendors / Suppliers, Service Managers