Data Center Infrastructure Management Software (DCIM)
FNT's Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) solution is a central resource management and optimization software for the data center. It covers documentation, planning, and management of all data center resources and facilities throughout their entire lifecycle. Businesses that use our DCIM software are able to streamline processes and optimize utilization of building infrastructure (power, cooling, floorspace), IT infrastructure (networks, servers, storage), connectivity (cables, patches) and services (software, applications). Our DCIM solution provides consistent, up-to-date, and easily accessible data that is vital for informed decisions on deployment of data center infrastructure resources and capacities. It is a field-tested solution based on the powerful FNT Command Platform that delivers a comprehensive and integrated view of all data center resources. From recording and monitoring live power consumption and temperature values to planning the entire data center, our DCIM software will keep your data center operating with maximum efficiency.
What is DCIM?
DCIM is the abbreviation for ‘Data Center Infrastructure Management’. It refers to a set of tools, processes, and technologies used to monitor, manage, and optimize the physical infrastructure of a data center.
Why should I use DCIM software?
DCIM solutions can help data center operators to manage power and cooling resources, track the location and status of equipment, monitor environmental conditions, and plan for capacity and resource utilization. Some solutions also provide real-time and historical data on energy usage, server performance, and other key metrics, which can be used to identify opportunities for cost saving and efficiency improvements. DCIM software can be used to manage data centers of all sizes, from small server rooms in edge data centers to large enterprise data centers, and ensures that infrastructure is operating efficiently and effectively.
Why not use BMS software or spreadsheets?
Both these potential alternatives lack critical features needed for proper management, team cooperation, and optimization of capacity usage.
Building Management Systems (BMS) manage and control mechanical and electrical systems in the data center, such as cooling, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), lighting, and power. These solutions are designed to optimize energy usage, improve operational safety, and reduce operating costs, but they are completely unaware of most parts of the data center infrastructure such as racks, servers, switches, cables, or the network. Also, they lack process support needed to optimize white space usage, resilience, and reliability of IT operations. BMS tools complement DCIM solutions but cannot replace them.
Spreadsheets such as Excel are often found as documentation and planning tools in IT and data center management. However, as they lack features to validate data entry and useful method for tracking changes (history, change log), and they do not provide useful support to larger teams or satisfy legal documentation requirements.
What are the main differences between DCIM systems on the market?
Most solutions cover similar aspects of data center management but emphasize different feature sets. The following function domains are typically covered to some degree: Asset management, Power and cooling management & Environmental monitoring, Automation and orchestration, Capacity planning, Analytics and reporting.
To avoid comparing apples and oranges, users looking for a suitable solution should identify their needs and the business value they want to achieve by implementing a DCIM solution before comparing alternative offerings.
For more details on the different tool types, see our free White Paper "Rethinking DCIM".
What makes a DCIM tool future-proof?
The needs for data center management are evolving constantly and the move to colocation, virtualization, and hybrid infrastructure adds new aspects to management processes. DCIM should therefore be selected not just by looking at todays’ needs, but with the future of data center operations in mind. Features such as planning, including cable management and network aspects, or vendor-agnostic support for all equipment models are critical for the long-term value of a solution.
For more details on next generation tool requirements, see our free White Paper "Rethinking DCIM".
Is it difficult to implement a DCIM solution?
While projects will be delayed or fail on occasion, we can clearly state from our experience with over 2.000 DCIM implementation projects that difficulties can be minimized or outright avoided. Problems implementing enterprise management software most often arise when the implementation method does not match the organizational structure or other project requirements. As a best practice, we suggest making the implementation planning part of the tender phase and vendor selection process rather than delaying planning tasks to the project phase after awarding a contract.
For more details on implementation best practices, see our free White Paper "IT Infrastructure Management Tools".
Does DCIM really pay for itself?
The short answer: Yes, with one caveat: when it is used right.
Much has been written about this topic by analysts, experts, and vendors that clearly demonstrates the value of DCIM. From reducing time and effort for planning, minimizing outage risks, and speeding up root cause analysis, DCIM contributes to reducing OPEX with a wide range of cost reduction aspects that clearly justify the investment.
Advantages of Our DCIM Solution
Highlights of our DCIM software
Footprints, or graphical representations of entire data centers or zones within them, help to better understand the real situation in a data center. Racks, floor tiles, cable trays and climate zones, etc. can be placed and arranged. Use a footprint to store a floor plan of the room as a background image and lay a grid of floor tiles on top of the floor plan. Additional grids can be defined individually for each footprint.
Utilization diagrams provide information on all available reserves by room or data center. Easily create diagrams showing usage of air conditioning, power, and floor space. In the floor space view, create pie charts displaying the relative percentages for different types of space: occupied with device, unoccupied, maneuvering, traffic, and blocked.
Real estate documentation of a data center is structured hierarchically, starting with the property and getting increasingly granular with the campus, building, floor, and room. The structure and number of zones can be configured as needed, and zones can be linked within or between hierarchical layers.
Encompasses all cabling, including back bone and patching inside the data center and between sites. Manage all patches (non-fixed cabling) and patch panels for copper and fiber cabling. Various display options show connections, including the graphical view inside cabinets. Signal tracing allows fast analysis and tracing across the entire signal chain from any selected port. All devices and cables on the physical layer – whether in actual or planned state - are displayed schematically in the form of a block diagram.
Record every change in the database throughout the entire lifecycle of an object. A History function documents a range of parameters for every CI, such as location, attributes, links, users, and type of change. This information can be evaluated for one or more CIs using comprehensive reporting functionality.
Plan and manage power distributor systems, consisting of power distributors with the associated power buses and rails. Fuses are placed in the outgoing lines on the respective power rails and connected graphically with the corresponding terminal devices.
Graphic representation of the rack enhanced with a photorealistic imagery, 2 and 3D representations of entire rooms, and a 3D footprint view. These powerful views provide facility managers with a fast and comprehensive overview of current and planned conditions within the data center.
Would you like to see how our DCIM solution works? Request a demo today.
DCIM Software - Screenshots
Would you like to know more about DCIM? Then you might be interested in the following:
In this third paper, we show how FNT specifically supports management of your data center cabling through a state-of-the-art software solution and decades of experience. After all, cable management is part of our DNA. Almost half of all DAX40 companies and more than 500 other major organizations around the world rely on our solutions to record, document, plan, and operate their critical cable infrastructures. Read on to discover how to future-proof the foundations of your digital transformation.
Digital twins play a pivotal role in managing today’s modern data centers. From design to operation to maintenance, using a digital twin in your data center management can make a huge difference in your ability to provide a resilient infrastructure, optimize resource usage, scale as needed – to name just a few concerns. This paper explores in detail what digital twin-enhanced data center management looks like, the value a digital twin adds to data center management, and how it is uniquely capable of overcoming the complex challenges of our increasingly digital world.
Increase the Efficiency of your Data Center Staff with AR-supported Infrastructure Management and Operations
What started in the 90s and was a vague vision of the future for most people back then, has now become part of our everyday lives. The possibilities that augmented reality (AR) offers us are extensive. Following this trend, the state-of-the-art technology is now also bringing innovations to data centers. Read all about the benefits of AR-driven DCIM in our brand new Partner Solution Paper and learn how the joint solution of FNT and Inceptum takes your DCIM to the next level!
The nerve pathways of digital transformation
Few aspects of digital infrastructure are as undervalued as network cabling – yet few are as critical to the process. Cabling provides the essential foundation for all forms of connectivity, data communication, and digital value creation. At the same time, the cables themselves are largely invisible, with more and more IT services being consumed from the cloud via WLAN. The highly qualified teams that provide and operate the cabling also work behind the scenes. This is especially true of the cabling in data centers, which is often regarded as a black box.
How a paradigm shift can fix cable chaos
In our white paper titled The Nerve Pathways of Digital Transformation, we highlighted the strategic importance and value of data center cabling. The focus was on the challenges around managing data center cabling, the consequences of inadequate cable management, and the warning signs that urgent action is needed. In this white paper, we examine how to turn data center cable management into a technical and economic success factor. We present the necessary changes to the fundamental approach and the positive effects that result from this paradigm shift. This is accompanied by a look at the increasing importance of professionalization, the use of professional software, and the tangible benefits it delivers for data center managers
Actions data center and network operators can take today for a more environmental-friendly tomorrow
Businesses concerned about sustainability are taking stock of their current situation, identifying areas to target for improvement, and formulating plans for how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. There are many strategies that can be used, and not all of them are obvious. This paper is an enlightening look at a number of different actions businesses can take to minimize the impact they are having on the environment.
Best Practices for Implementation
Physical IT infrastructure resources and assets form the basis for all IT services and are thus fundamental for business success. Managing cables, servers, and switches has always been a complex challenge but digital transformation and its consequences now make deployment of specialist tools a prerequisite for efficient management. Many rollouts of such tools fail for various reasons, e. g., the strategy, choice of tool, goals, or data collection. The result is that solutions are either not used at all or not used effectively. In this white paper, we discuss the most common issues encountered when implementing IT infrastructure management tools and how to avoid them.
Guide to understanding Top-Down DCIM and why it matters
Data centers are essential for the success of any modern business. Accordingly, their performance and availability are increasingly moving up the agenda of customers and senior management alike. But it is no longer enough to simply use space, power, and cooling as metrics. Given digital transformation and the central role of IT in an organization’s ability to deliver, data centers need to provide maximum support for business transactions. Traditional tools for data center infrastructure management (DCIM) have reached their limits. What is needed are integrated tools, standards, and data models that enable seamless, efficient management of IT infrastructure from top to bottom. This white paper looks at the differences between tool generations, what characterizes modern DCIM solutions, and why managing isolated solutions soon runs up against functional limits. The core question is: How can I future-proof my data center?
How to Evaluate and Transition to a New Solution
Whatever the motivating factor, every organization will at some point need to replace their DCIM software. Whether by choice or by force, there is a way to approach the process that will minimize the effort required and maximize the benefit not only to your data center, but to your organization overall.
This guide is full of useful information that can facilitate the process. It details what to look for in a replacement solution and best practices for how to migrate. It also lays out the justifications you’ll need to garner management support for the change initiative.
How to leverage the full potential of management tools and process with smart integration
In this white paper, we’ll discuss how to drive growth and automate processes through smart integration. Combining a data center infrastructure management (DCIM) solution with other business-critical systems will simplify and unify operational processes and allow you to achieve high-caliber data center management.
A Data Center´s Guide for Managing Hybrid Resources
The pandemic has heightened the need for digital transformation and is accelerating its mainstream adoption to support remote workforces, increased bandwidth, IoT, and virtualization. To ensure success in the aftermath of COVID-19 and remain competitive in a digital world, businesses must also understand how infrastructure management is evolving. In this white paper, we’ll discuss why today’s modern data centers need hybrid digital infrastructure management for greater visibility into digital infrastructure and to support increased mobility.
Taking data center automation to new levels with a combined FNT/ABB solution
Managing data centers is complicated. It involves multiple tools, a combination of manual and automated processes that aren’t always in sync, and data that isn’t always available when needed. A single solution simply cannot handle the complexity of a modern data center. Integrating best-in-class tools is the key to increasing efficiency and productivity across all departments. It makes sure all are working together in an integrated way and not operating in silos. Read our new white paper to learn how FNT together with ABB have made data center management more efficient just by working together.
A Guide for Operating Remote Sites
Current predictions by various experts indicate a rapid growth of edge computing. Many companies have now recognized the advantages of the edge and are in various stages of implementing their own edge strategies. This white paper discusses how organizations can keep track of and efficiently manage their geographically dispersed sites.
The IT system house of the Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit, BA) is responsible for the operation of fail-safe data centers at the headquarters in Nuremberg as well as for the IT infrastructure in the 1,800 real estates. To increase the efficiency of the own organization for the DC planning and administration tasks, the IT system house migrated to the FNT Command resource management solution.
Webinar
In this webinar, ABB and FNT Software show how enterprises and colocation providers are employing integrated tools and processes to achieve high-caliber data center management. The focus will be on how to combine monitoring and control of facilities with IT asset management and capacity planning, and the big benefits that can be realized as a result.
Is your DCIM application keeping pace with the growing demands of your data center operations? Are you able to proactively manage changes? Do you have visibility of all the components that comprise your data center?
Make the change!
