Tag Archives: DCIM

Change Management Crucial in DCIM & Network Mapping Success

Change Management Crucial in DCIM & Network Mapping Success

By - August 29, 2018

Have you been using spreadsheets and Visio diagrams to document your data center and networks? Are you considering upgrading to DCIM or an automated network diagramming solution? I’ve consulted on numerous project approvals and over the years, I’ve found that two key questions pop up time and time again: How, exactly, will you maintain the…

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What Does DCIM Stand For?

What Does DCIM Stand For?

By - August 24, 2018

Call me old school or just call me old: when DCIM first started making headlines here and there, I never really understood the acronym. What does it stand for and what does it really mean? DCIM stands for ‘Data Center Infrastructure Management’. Why is it ‘DCIM’ for ‘Data Center Infrastructure Management’ anyways? My best guess…

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Why You May Not Need DCIM

Why You May Not Need DCIM

By - August 14, 2018

So, you think maybe it’s time for DCIM. Costs are getting out of control, troubleshooting problems abound, capacity planning is not going well, and you have zombie servers attacking your data center. DCIM can be a sizeable investment — and before you sign on the dotted line, it’s crucial to ensure that 1. you find…

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What is DCIM? DCIM Software 101

What is DCIM? DCIM Software 101

By - June 15, 2018

DCIM, which stands for Data Center Infrastructure Management, gives data center managers a central repository from which they can manage their data centers’ assets, space, power, cabling, cooling, and downtime. DCIM makes managing the ever-expanding ecosystems in data centers less daunting: with DCIM software, cable and circuit outages can be traced and resolved, new equipment…

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Automagic Calculations for DCIM, OSP, and Network Mapping

Automagic Calculations for DCIM, OSP, and Network Mapping

By - June 7, 2018

In this blog on automatic calculations (using our DCIM, outside plant, and network diagramming software), we’ll review what we call ‘expressions’ in netTerrain. Expressions are functions you can create in netTerrain using transact SQL to compute or aggregate any sort of scale or value — and retrieve it in a property. You may want to…

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Why Big DCIM Vendors Have a Big ROI Problem

Why Big DCIM Vendors Have a Big ROI Problem

By - May 31, 2018

Regardless of how much large software vendors may want it to be otherwise, DCIM, aka data center infrastructure management software, isn’t — by its very nature — a one-size-fits-all solution. It can function across a number of different data center functions. Don’t just take my word for it: ask ten DCIM vendors to define exactly…

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Buying DCIM? Don’t Overlook Customer Service

Buying DCIM? Don’t Overlook Customer Service

By - April 4, 2018

In general, the importance of good customer service can’t be overstated: with DCIM, it’s crucial to a successful implementation. Unfortunately, with DCIM — it can prove hard to find. I manage customer support for our documentation suite: DCIM, network mapping, and outside plant. I think one reason we have had success is being able to…

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Does This Make My Server Look Fat?

Does This Make My Server Look Fat?

By - March 13, 2018

Does this make my server look fat? Is my floor starting to bulge? Yeah, we have all been there. The server room is starting to look a little heavy…or is it? Hey, we’ve all told ourselves a few little white lies from time to time, ‘maybe it’s just the way the light is hitting this…

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The DCIM Competitive Analysis Gone Wrong (Part Two)

The DCIM Competitive Analysis Gone Wrong (Part Two)

By - February 27, 2018

This article continues our previous blog on why we don’t engage in competitive analyses; it is designed to give you an example of why an ‘us vs. them’ DCIM vendor comparison fails. Let’s break it down. First, here’s a link to a competitive analysis on netTerrain from another vendor (who’s never used netTerrain). Now, let’s…

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Why We Won’t Waste Your Time with a DCIM Competitive Analysis (Part One)

Why We Won’t Waste Your Time with a DCIM Competitive Analysis (Part One)

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Sometimes a prospect asks us if we can give them a competitive analysis: you know, how we stack up against some other DCIM competitor. I totally get why we’re asked for these; it is part of the usual song and dance and many organizations want them. We’re not immune: in fact, we have something like…

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From Hieroglyphics to NASA, Data Visualization Isn’t Anything New

From Hieroglyphics to NASA, Data Visualization Isn’t Anything New

By - February 26, 2018

I was spending some time (or wasting….you decide) on Reddit last week when I came across this article on how NASA uses IT visualization to tell visual stories from technical details. While we’re not a BI tool, what NASA is doing — and why they’re doing it — is at the very heart of the…

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How Does Automatic Network Mapping Work?

How Does Automatic Network Mapping Work?

By - February 8, 2018

SNMP is an old time workhorse of information. If you’ve been a network engineer for a while, the ability to automatically discover objects when you’re documenting the network can’t be overhyped. Automatic network mapping, on this level, significantly reduces your manual workload and ensures that your documentation is accurate and up-to-date. If you’re looking at…

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