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It’s no secret that data centers consume a lot of power, with estimates putting it at about two percent of the global energy consumption.2 There are several things that IT managers can do to improve energy efficiency, starting with an assessment of the current data center conditions. Are there unused servers that could and should be shut down? What are the best candidates for virtualization? What factually are the least efficient pieces of equipment in the data center? Without truly managing the infrastructure, determining problem areas can be next to impossible

The Manifesto

Steps need to be taken to manage the IT infrastructure (whether you call that DCIM, ITIM, or something else) more efficiently. Start by deciding what data is important to be able to manage the data center efficiently. There is no single list and no one-size fits all answer. It all depends on the age, size, scale and equipment in each unique environment. Then, pick a management system that will truly consolidate all the data currently managed in spreadsheets, and the data that should be managed, but isn’t because it’s too hard. Strongly consider whether or not the solution requires hardware to be purchased and whether this will add to your problems or lock you into one system? Next, ensure there are real, positive processes in place to keep the data up-to-date; no tool is of any use if it’s too much trouble to keep it accurate. Some systems make this easier than others. This is critical, as no tool by itself, no matter how fancy, or whatever the vendor says – is going to solve problems by itself. The next step, using the data for planning and further change, requires trust in the data. Do not fall into the trap of using the tool and still doing a physical audit each time change is required. All of this can be achieved, but it’s not easy and there are no magic bullets. Do not believe a vendor that says their system will solve all your problems without process changes; it won’t!

Properly managing your infrastructure is critical to being able to avoid downtime as well as meet operational efficiency demands. If you are cutting your data center short on proper management to conserve money today, it is almost certainly costing you more in the long run, both in resources and downtime. Whatever the future plans for your data center include, whether it is a move to virtualization, trying to become more green or moving to a cloud model , having up-to-date, centralized records of all aspects of your assets, the facility, the connectivity and historical data (not in spreadsheets!) will help to make those transitions run more smoothly. While no two enterprises are ever the same in what they want to manage, the principle that change cannot be managed effectively without accurate consolidated data and a truly effective infrastructure management system applies to everyone.

References: Ponemon Institute. Calculating the Cost of Data Center Outages. 2011, Cormant, Inc. Published Links: ReadWriteWeb, Data Center Journal, InfoTech Spotlight