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Smart Hands (T&M)

Service ownership

Owner: dc-operations (colo-pm@clouddigit.ai) — Status: GA — Last audited: 2026-05-11

On-site engineering, billed per quarter-hour, time-and-materials.

What it is

Cloud Digit DC operations staff perform tasks on your behalf inside the rack — physical-layer work that you can't do remotely.

Common tasks

  • Power-cycle a server (no, console-resetting is Remote Hands, not Smart Hands)
  • Re-seat or swap a hard drive
  • Patch a cable
  • Crash-cart attach for OS-level recovery
  • Receive shipments at the dock and rack the equipment
  • De-rack and ship out at end of life

What it's not

  • Not OS-level work — that's Managed Services territory
  • Not "diagnose this" — staff follow your runbook, they don't author one

Engagement

Open a ticket with the work to be done — be specific:

"Rack 12, U23: power-cycle the server. Confirm front-panel LED returns to solid green within 60 s of boot."

Confirmed-with-photo work is supported (request photo evidence as part of the ticket).

Pricing

Per quarter-hour, T&M. 1-hour minimum per dispatch. After-hours rate (22:00 – 06:00) is higher. See Pricing.

Operate this service

On-demand DC technicians for tasks too complex for remote action — time-and-materials billing.

What smart hands can do

  • Rack and unrack equipment
  • Cable runs (network and power)
  • Hardware swaps (drive, PSU, NIC, RAM)
  • BMC/iLO operations (KVM connect, boot media)
  • Visual inspection / photos
  • Receive shipped equipment

What they can't do

  • Configure customer software / OS
  • Modify customer applications
  • Override security restrictions (cage access without proper auth)

For customer-software work: see Managed Services.

IAM

Role Can do
smarthands.viewer View past requests
smarthands.requester Request smart-hands work
smarthands.approver Approve high-cost requests

For requests > 4 h estimated: smarthands.approver required.

Pricing

T&M: - Business hours (8 AM - 6 PM weekdays): standard rate - After-hours / weekend: 1.5× - 1-h minimum per request

Parts: customer-supplied or CD-stocked at retail.

Request templates

For common tasks, pre-built templates speed the workflow:

bash cd colo smart-hands request --template hdd-swap --rack <id> --device server-04 --slot 3

Templates ensure CD techs have all required context (parts, location, expected duration).

Request workflow

bash cd colo smart-hands request \ --rack rack-acme-bd-dha-1-r042 \ --priority normal \ --task "Replace failed drive in server-04 slot 3 with spare from shelf B" \ --estimated-duration 30min

States: - submitted → CD reviews and schedules - scheduled → assigned to tech with ETA - in-progress → work happening - completed → photo + notes attached

Documenting requests

Quality of work depends on quality of request. Include:

  • Exact device and slot
  • Expected outcome
  • Parts location (if customer-supplied)
  • Anything unusual about the gear
  • Photos if helpful for orientation

A 2-paragraph request beats a 1-line request — fewer back-and-forth iterations.

Photo evidence

Standard for hardware-touching work: - Before - After - Any anomalies

Photos attached to the request log; auditable.

Cost tracking

bash cd colo smart-hands report --month current

Shows: - Hours used (business / after-hours) - Parts costs - Per-task breakdown

For high-volume customers: convert to Remote Hands SLA for better predictability.

Quality

If work was incorrect or incomplete: - File a follow-up request referencing the original - Original tech may handle, or escalate to senior - Repeat work due to original error: no additional charge

Request not picked up

Status stuck in submitted for > 4 h (business hours): - Queue backed up — escalate via priority bump - Description unclear; CD waiting on clarification - Outside business hours; will pick up next morning

bash cd colo smart-hands status --request <id>

Wrong work performed

Tech did something different from what was requested: - File a follow-up request describing the issue - Reference the original request ID - Photos help; CD reviews work logs

Re-do is no-charge if CD error. Customer-error (ambiguous request) bills as normal.

Parts not available

Customer-supplied parts: shipping delay or misplaced

bash cd colo shipping track --reference <vendor-PO>

CD-supplied parts: out of stock at the DC - Estimate restocking time - Tech may suggest equivalent alternative - Customer authorizes substitution

After-hours emergency

P1 (production-down) gets special treatment: - 24×7 response, 30-min target - Phone hotline (call before submitting electronic request) - Bills at 2× rate

For non-P1 after-hours: wait until business hours (cheaper).

Cost dispute

Request invoiced higher than expected: - Hours billed exceed estimate (legitimate; estimate was wrong) - Parts charged for parts you supplied (CD error; credit) - After-hours rate when it was business hours (CD error; credit)

Open dispute via cd colo smart-hands dispute --request <id> --reason "...".

Cage access for smart-hands

For cage workloads, smart-hands needs separate authorization per visit: - Customer approves each smart-hands visit - Or pre-approve standing authorization (high-trust)

Pending authorization blocks the request.