DCIM It’s All About Communication
We’ve said it too many times on this site over the years: no single piece of software can do everything. Yes, many companies are searching for a single pane of glass view — and with good reason: there are so many moving parts and systems that you need a single central repository to minimize costs, boost productivity, maintain compliance, and so on.
Is the ‘single-pane-of-glass’ DCIM software concept attainable?
Yes. However, it is impossible to attain this with a single software solution. As with your IT team, a single guy can’t do everything, so each team member has abilities and flaws that enable the result. The same is accurate for data centers in that many tools have different strong and weak points. Communication is essential for getting so many team members to create the desired outcomes.
What’s the secret to getting data center equipment to cooperate and generate the intended results? Communication, as you may have imagined.
You don’t want to replace good tools with a mediocre tool that “does everything.” Most data centers have already invested in various instruments ranging from network monitoring (such as Solarwinds or Spectrum) through service desk CMDBs (such as ServiceNow or Remedy) to cloud platforms such as AWS and Azure. These tools perform admirably.
Why rediscover the wheel when you don’t have to?
A Swiss army knife, for example, is undoubtedly useful, but it will not provide exceptional results when you need them. If you need a wide range of tools, you’ll need a toolbox that organizes them and makes them viewable, trackable, and reachable.
You also don’t want to pay so much as you have to: you don’t need to substitute any of your current systems with a one-size-fits-all tool that promises to perform the same thing. Consider your sunk expenses, initial investment, and time investment in learning a new system, with all of the hassles involved.
The fact is that tools like Solarwinds are essential members of your data center’s crew. VCenter, wise PDUs, AWS, CA Spectrum, ServiceNow, Excel, Visio, and other technologies may also be members of your data center’s team. You don’t need one-size-fits-all software: you need software that enables and supports smooth interaction with all the team members in your data center. DCIM facilitates communication among the various tools you utilize (see our recent case study on how Acciona Energy unified teams and tools using DCIM software).
For example, netTerrain’s Collector bundled with our program (netTerrain DCIM). The Collector can import your current data sources into netTerrain via Web Services API, allowing you to use your existing applications while also populating the data in netTerrain.
Why is this significant?
You obtain data center diagrams that are always up to date and include data from your apps.
Our latest DCIM case study with Acciona Energy discusses bringing siloed data together; under this case, it includes information from:
. ServiceNow will add attributes for devices and other resources.
. VCenter is used to import and update the information of physical hosts and virtual machines.
. CA Spectrum will be used to update device attributes and status data.
Acciona Energy gained numerous advantages by utilizing netTerrain DCIM, which acts as a visual and centralized repository for bringing in all of the data center team’s apps, consuming the data, and visualizing data in helpful data center infrastructure diagrams.:
- There are too many silos
- complicated Infrastructure
- Databases that are separate from one another
- Create Visuals Easily – essentially, create a single pane of glass look into your data center.
- Gather data and store it in a centralized location.
- Check out the Business Impact
The effects and benefits of having a consolidated and centralized repository for your different data silos are enormous:
- Locate issues more quickly
- Resolve Issues More Effortlessly
- Retain so many customers
- Make Things Easier for You
To discover more about how netTerrain DCIM may assist you in resolving your IT issues.
Please contact Trinity IT Consulting for further information.
