DCN February 2017 | Page 28

infrastrucure management

TRACKING THE WAY

Is there any real value in implementing DCIM and are the messages about the supposed benefits of investing in it met with confusion , indifference and scepticism ? What needs to happen in order to reinvigorate the DCIM sector and enable this technology to fulfil its potential ? Steve Beber , CEO of Trackit gives his thoughts and highlights the benefits of data centre auditing .

With its capacity to create significant energy efficiency and operational gains , DCIM can be a highly effective solution when adopted AND deployed properly . However , many customers that have dipped their toe in the DCIM waters have had a poor experience and are now sceptical about the value DCIM can deliver .

There are two key reasons why DCIM continues to fail to fulfil its potential .
Firstly , the market is poorly defined and , due to lack of any industry standards , vendors have interpreted their products as being DCIM , where many only fulfil part of a more complex solution that is required for managing DC infrastructure . Customers don ’ t understand what they want or need and vendors create product features (‘ bells and whistles ’) that can be extremely hard to deliver operationally . This has led to confusion about what DCIM is and what it should do .
The second fundamental issue is the lack of consideration given to building a DCIM solution from the ground up . Customers believe that their data sets are totally accurate
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