FACILITIES management
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http://www.dcseurope.info/n/xzro
IIM: “Must Haves” for mixed environments
It has never been more important to design communications rooms and data centers with control and easy maintenance as primary concerns. All work routines – from daily MACs (moves, adds and changes) to once-every-few-year generation upgrades - must be meticulously planned, and tools must be put into place to help execute the plans efficiently and correctly. By Rob Tansley, UK Sales Director at RiT Technologies.
INTELLIGENT INFRASTRUCTURE MANAGEMENT (IIM) is a field- proven concept designed specifically to keep infrastructure control firmly in IT hands. When IIM was pioneered two decades ago, its goal was to streamline and error-proof network infrastructure operations through the use of self-aware network components, a central data repository and intelligent processes
by decreasing network downtime, optimizing power and space usage, accelerating service deployment and enhancing security - all at a lower cost than manual methods. In datacenters, IIM usage is just now beginning to gain interest. The ESG Group2 reported that “…data center networks remain anchored to physical devices and manual processes…”, with approximately 40% of respondents surveyed reporting that their main operational problems remain the manual processes that lead to change and configuration management problems.
Today, the core IIM concept remains the same, but it has been extended with power, documentation, environmental and other capabilities that make it even more valuable for the data center. The IIM concept has become well accepted for use in the overall communications infrastructure. In fact, one in three IT professionals today claim that intelligent infrastructure has been a key to increasing their productivity1
In contrast, research3 has repeatedly shown that more rigorous,
intelligent management can save as much as 20-30% of an organization’s overall operating costs – while simultaneously bringing companies into compliance with new industry best-practices mandating IIM as the best platform for data center efficiency and controllability.
IIM in detail
The aim of today’s state-of-the-art IIM systems is to enable clear visibility and effective management of the entire IT infrastructure, including end-user equipment (servers, PCs, IP phones, printers, etc.), connectivity infrastructure (cabinets, cabling, etc.), power, cooling and environment monitoring elements, and security elements.
IIM systems contribute significant efficiency and value to all types of daily and long-term IT tasks: £ Provisioning and Service Deployment: Using advanced IIM solutions, data centers are able to streamline - and even to automate - the planning and implementation of flawless provisioning and the MACs (moves, adds and changes) needed to make it happen, enabling the IT staff to focus on “what to provision” rather than “how to provision”. In planning each provisioning task, the system considers the status of all network components and deployment rules, and then calculates the optimal resource allocation. It then produces a multi-team work order automatically for all required MACs, and tracks it until it is fully completed. The result: reduced downtime and human error, and a significant increase in productivity.
£ Fault Management: According to Forrester Research4 , most
disaster recovery operations are caused by mundane events that escape detection, and several surveys5
assert that the main cause
for downtime is the “human element”. According to the Ponemon Institute, the downtime costs $5,600 per minute on average, or $336,000 per hour. Serving as the IT staff’s “never sleeping eyes and ears,” IIM systems continuously monitor all connections at the patching level - and provide immediate alerts when faults or disconnections are sensed. The IT staff, armed in real time with exact fault locations, is able to correct the problem in the shortest time possible, resulting in minimal network disruption.
£ IT Asset Management: The mobile era has made it harder and harder to track IT equipment – especially laptops, IP phones and
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www.dcseurope.info I February 2014
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