IT Asset Management and DCIM
By Fred Koh - October 13, 2020In my previous article, If Your Data Center Swings Between Availability & Efficiency, You May Need DCIM, I briefly discussed IT Asset Management (ITAM). I’d like to explore this feature in a DCIM solution a bit more, as this is one of the most important features in a Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM). What is…
Learn MoreData Center Swinging Between Availability & Efficiency? You May Need DCIM
By Fred Koh - October 7, 2020If traditional cars need gas and oil, millennials need avocado and toast, and Teslas need electricity and a battery, it follows that data centers need the following to run: availability and efficiency. The problem? Have too much availability and efficiency is going to suffer and visa versa. The modern data center swings on something a…
Learn MoreNetwork Rack Diagrams 101
By Fred Koh - September 14, 2020Over the years, I’ve talked with lots of IT folks who need software for network mapping and network documentation such as netTerrain. These discussions tend to focus on items such as, “can this software go out and discover my network? Can it provide monitoring, like polling services to see if a device is up or…
Learn MoreIs DCIM’s ‘Single Pane of Glass’ a Myth?
By Fred Koh - September 11, 2020In IT management, there’s a lot of chatter about the idea of the ‘single pane of glass’. The concept of the single pane of glass is this: instead of IT staff being left to sort through various tools and incompatible systems across departments, an organization’s entire IT staff can trust just one platform to deliver…
Learn MoreDCIM Cable Management Software: 3 Helpful Reports
By Fred Koh -If you were to make a list of mission-critical assets in a data center, cables would near the top. They provide connectivity that lays down the tracks on which the data center runs. From copper to fiber and everything in between, data centers contain a wide range of cabling. Regardless of whether the cables are…
Learn MoreData Center Capacity Headaches? How DCIM Helps
By Fred Koh - August 27, 2020Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) software (such as netTerrain DCIM) makes capacity planning easy: DCIM gives you the insights necessary for key infrastructure and financial decisions. WIth DCIM software, you can plan out new data center builds, expansions, consolidations, and consider different scenarios — all while armed with insights about current capacity and usage. netTerrain…
Learn MoreDCIM Software with Cable Management: Do You Need It?
By Fred Koh - July 13, 2020Do you need Data Center Infrastructure Management software (DCIM)? If so, what are your requirements when looking for a DCIM software? If you’re going through your checklist of features and looking at many DCIM software vendors (you can read more about putting your list of DCIM requirements together by clicking here) —- don’t forget to…
Learn MoreGood DCIM Software: What to Look For
By Fred Koh - June 18, 2020Data Center Infrastructure Management Software (DCIM): how do you define it? Ask what DCIM means to your colleagues and management and I have no doubt that you’ll end up with different responses from each person you ask! Over the many years that we’ve been selling our DCIM tool (netTerrain DCIM), we’ve written numerous articles (and…
Learn MoreNeed to Replace NetDoc for Cable Management?
By Fred Koh - May 11, 2020The other day, I was in a demo meeting with a prospective customer who informed me they had reached out because their cable software’s vendor,Brady, stopped supporting its NetDoc Cable Management software and is reaching end-of-life by the end of December 2021. I recalled hearing the name ‘NetDoc’ from exhibiting at BICSI events last year…
Learn MoreChoosing a DCIM Vendor: 4 Key Considerations
By Fred Koh - April 30, 2020For increasingly complex data centers, data center infrastructure management (DCIM) software is no longer optional. Without it, how can you best allocate your resources (space, assets, power, etc.) and keep costs right-sized? That being said, DCIM is still, in the grand scheme of things, relatively new. Choosing a DCIM vendor from a list created by…
Learn MoreBusiness Optimization Through Data Visualization
By Fred Koh - April 16, 2020Many of my recent articles explore netTerrain’s various use cases — with respect to network documentation, data center infrastructure management (DCIM), and managing fiber plant (outside plant). In this article, I am going to take a step back to talk about how you can optimize your business with the power of data visualization. Typically, IT…
Learn More7 Ways DCIM Software Makes Data Center Migration Projects Easier
By Fred Koh - April 10, 2020Regardless of what exactly you need to move — consolidating data center rooms, or moving from a small data center to larger space (or vice versa) — a the process of Data Center migration can be quite stressful for managers! You need to make sure your assets are moved and installed, with correct cabling in…
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