Have you decided you need data center infrastructure management (DCIM) software to better manage your data center…. and now you need to go out and find a DCIM vendor? Before you select a vendor, the following two items are crucial in ensuring your implementation is a successful one.
1. Figure Out What You Need from DCIM
I’ve seen many organizations who’ve purchased a DCIM solution only to later realize they need cabling management….and the solution they purchased isn’t adequate for that whereas a solution like netTerrain DCIM gives you a high level of control over your cabling.
Even before you schedule meetings to look at DCIM software, figure out what you really need to do with DCIM first, such as:
- Need better control of your IT inventory and fed up with unnecessary IT spending?
- Experiencing difficulty trying to document and visualize your cabling infrastructure?
- Trying to track all the cabling inside your data centers using spreadsheets and it’s driving you nuts?
- Need to find a way to both reserve ports and find available ports?
- Need to track, manage, and visualize your data center power? Trying to find a better way to utilize rack space with sacrificing power availability?
- Is your current documentation, like spreadsheets and Visio diagrams, outdated and can you trust your old ways of managing your data center?
Identify what you need to accomplish with DCIM upfront so you can avoid buying software twice or ending up with software that’s not delivering ROI.
2. Don’t Rush In
Buyer, beware: not all DCIM vendors are equal!
You’ve got to do your research as DCIM isn’t a one-size-fits-all or cookie-cutter solution. The DCIM solution (and vendor) that you need really depends on what you’re trying to manage.
Need a solution to untangle your cabling spaghetti? Some DCIM vendors only focus on managing power, and not cabling. In fact, some vendors’ key focus isn’t even DCIM but is on selling the hardware they make!
There are, however, several niche DCIM vendors out there, whose primary focus is with their DCIM product, such as Graphical Networks’ netTerrain DCIM, Device 42, and Sunbird DCIM. These are some niche vendors to explore (and, full disclosure, we make netTerrain DCIM).
Something to take note of is that there’s been some consolidation of DCIM vendors in recent years, with some exiting the market place, or being acquired by another company with a focus outside of DCIM, such as iTracs, nLyte, CA (now Broadcom) DCIM, and Vertiv Trellis.
Be sure to ask your DCIM vendor if they are part of a larger company, ask for a product roadmap, to show that there is a vested interest in releasing new versions of its DCIM software, how long have they been in business, and see a sample list of customers using DCIM today. As we said above, do your research. Our CEO, Jan Durnhofer, wrote this article about doing your vendor research and how to do it: click here to read it.
In sum, though finding the right solution/vendor can be daunting at first, DCIM is a very good investment in your overall management of your data center. Having a DCIM solution can help you with:
- Managing data center space and rack management
- Monitoring temperature and power to reduce power costs
- What are all the assets inside my data centers?
- Cabling management system to get a handle of cabling to identify resource availability
- Effective capacity planning and forecasting
- Managing changes through work order tasks or tying changes through a service desk CMDB such as ServiceNow
- Visualizing and managing your hybrid infrastructure, including your virtual and cloud platforms
Want further guidance? Download our DCIM ebook, which is mostly vendor-agnostic and written to help you choose the right DCIM vendor: click here.