Managing data centres in the digital economy

Enterprises around the world are turning towards digital transformation to innovate and maintain their lead in the face of heightened competition. As obsolete or ageing systems are replaced with new hardware, enterprise IT deployments are undergoing a slow but inexorable transition towards software-driven capabilities.

The software-defined data centre (SDDC) enables enterprises to significantly speed up the deployment and delivery of new services in the enterprise through extensive resource pooling and software-defined capabilities at the compute, networking and storage tiers. 

While the SDDC is usually discussed alone, the strength of the supporting infrastructure can significantly impact the capabilities and value that it can offer the enterprise. These underlying components encompass systems relating to space management, power and cooling, as well as the requisite redundancies to ensure that the SDDC never goes down. Though proper management of infrastructure systems take considerable effort and time, they are absolutely vital for the reliable operation of the data centre.

With its ability to offer a deeper level of visibility into the data centre, the DCIM, or Data Centre Infrastructure Management plays a crucial role by connecting the dots between the many disparate hardware components and systems that are necessary to support the infrastructure of an SDDC. Designed to deliver a single-pane-of-glass view into the data centre, the DCIM breaks down systems silos to deliver complete visibility into the health of underlying systems.

Properly deployed and used, a modern DCIM can go a long way towards supporting infrastructure modernisation projects as well as deliver heightened levels of IT automation and efficiency. Impending problems can be quickly diagnosed and resolved through a real-time view of interconnected systems, while workflow optimisation and decisions about asset management are more informed than ever.

The first DCIM systems began as a mix of components designed to monitor and manage data centre facilities and IT infrastructure. As DCIM solutions evolve over the years, it is increasingly recognised as a key element in digital transformation due to the operational flexibility and control it delivers. With the right DCIM in place, enterprises find it easier to meet the perpetually changing requirements of their growing business with timely infrastructure upgrades.

Colocation providers and enterprises are cognizant about the DCIM’s role. Indeed, over half (54%) of survey respondents in the Uptime Institute’s latest annual data centre industry survey say they use a commercial DCIM software of some sort, while another 11% say they deploy a DCIM solution that is built in-house. From the study, it is evident that the number of organisations that use a DCIM is increasing.

Today, DCIM systems are used for anything from asset tracking, space optimisation, to advanced tasks such as the integration of building a management system (BMS) and next-gen Internet of Things (IoT) monitoring devices. And despite the complexity introduced by hybrid cloud environments, the DCIM allows organisations to quickly identify and mitigate the source of problems or outages.

With a DCIM, data centre operations team can also make changes to the physical environment to prolong the lifespan of an IT deployment but drive greater efficiency from existing systems. For instance, equipment can be optimised to lower energy costs, and workflows can be tweaked to increase reliability and use fewer resources. Moreover, organisations with a corporate social responsibility policy can keep a closer eye on energy consumption in the data centre.

Finally, the DCIM also supports growth and capacity planning. A modern data centre contains thousands of equipment ranging from storage appliances, servers, switches, and routers. As enterprises embark on digital transformation initiatives and replace legacy hardware with converged or hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) systems, the DCIM can help organisations and track their computing assets and utilise their physical racks more efficiently.

As your organisation embarks on its digital transformation journey, do think about how the DCIM can give you greater visibility – and reliability – into the state of your IT deployment.

Speak to us to find out how to learn more about DCIM systems can accelerate your DX.