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Data Center Infrastructure
Management (DCIM)
Integration
The Struggle to Control
Data Center Assets…
Environment in Flux
Assets being introduced, moved, repaired, reconfigured retired
Low Visibility
Asset proliferation & fragmented data Asset data out of sync with
configuration
Labor intensive, manual reconciliation
Inaccurate links between logical inventory and physical location
Lack of Control
Off-contract, fragmented procurement
Ad-hoc processes for asset lifecycle management
Virtualization
Virtualization
High Asset Turnover
High Asset Turnover
Mobility Mobility Acquisitions Acquisitions Reorganizations Reorganizations Employee Turnover Employee Turnover Frequent Changes Frequent Changes Distributed Infrastructure Distributed Infrastructure
Why Traditional Approaches Fall Short
Traditional asset management approaches:
Still rely on manual processes and updates
Can’t find and track assets that are off the network Still generate a lot of paperwork
Do not provide real-time information about your assets Can cause redundant and excessive IT asset purchases
Generate unnecessary payments on retired or broken equipment Waste time and money locating missing assets
Extends MTTR locating equipment that is not in its documented rack
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According to Gartner, enterprises that systematically manage the
lifecycle of their IT assets will reduce their cost per asset by as much as 30% during the first year, and between 5-10 percent annually during the next five years.
Solution Components
The combination of Fluensee AssetTrack™, GDCM nlyte™ and
BMC Remedy™ provide a closed loop system for physically tracking
asset location, physical planning of assets and managing the asset
lifecycle within the overall ITIL processes.
Fluensee
Uses RFID to provide real-time tracking and notification of IT asset movement, whether they are on- or off-network.
GDCM
Provides nlyte, a Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) solution for managing, modeling, visualizing and optimizing physical assets in the data center.
BMC Software
BMC Remedy Asset Management provides a comprehensive approach to IT asset lifecycle management, delivering proactive control and
greater visibility into IT assets, from requisition to retirement.
DCIM Integration Features
DCM integration provides automation to ensure accuracy for MAC initiatives in the data center
Fluensee AssetTrack improves the reliability and accuracy of data within Remedy:
Provides real-time identification of unexpected assets moves, discovery, and disappearance Associates assets to authorized personnel
Gives accurate view of “actual” vs. “expected” asset location and alerts the appropriate personnel to resolve any discrepancies
GDCM nlyte provides the central repository for DC assets and their interrelationships:
Extends Remedy ITSM workflows into the data center
Provides what-if scenarios for complex moves, adds and changes (MAC) Supports real-time power integration and reporting for tagged assets
BMC Remedy Asset & Configuration Management enables IT to get control over the full lifecycle IT assets – from purchase to retirement:
Managed procurement, maintenance, retirement and other asset workflows Integrates and reconciles asset discovery data across multiple tools
Integrated Solution Capabilities
Enables real-time discovery, location and tracking of IT assets
Real-time monitoring/sensing of temperature and humidity within the data center
True end-to-end IT asset lifecycle management – planning, tracking and monitoring of equipment provisioning and moves
Provides exception-based email alerts and incident management Ability to associate people and applications to IT assets
Automates MAC (Move, ADD, Change) initiatives in the data center On-demand auditing capability
Creates customized and ad hoc reports on asset location, status, history and more
Assigns asset accountability and security controls
Supports “What If” scenarios for capacity planning (Power, Cooling, Space)
Benefits
This unified, real-time view of your data center will allow you to find and
better manage your IT assets
Reduce/eliminate labor necessary to locate lost or missing assets
Automated, accurate reporting of assets for auditing, billing, compliance
Improved equipment visibility and utilization – avoid additional IT asset purchases Real-time asset “locationing” for improved break/fix service
Single “Version of Truth” for data center asset configuration data Improved communication for data center support personnel
Better capacity planning for power, cooling and space through modeling Reduced costs through optimization and employee efficiency improvements
RFID and more automated, efficient IT asset management can reduce the labor required to manage IT assts by more than 80%.
DCIM Integration Example
Add New Server
Process
DCIM Add Server Process Flow
AssetTrack™ BMC Remedy ITSM Service Request GDCM nlyte Workflow for ServerPlacement Location verified and updated in nlyte Actual placement with Fluensee RFID tag Virtual Server Placement in nlyte Remedy™ nlyte™
BMC Remedy ITSM Initiates Server Add
Add New Server Process Triggers nlyte Workflow
• BMC Service Desk
• BMC XXX
Task Handoff to nlyte Workflow
ITIL-compatible nlyte workflow:
• Extends BMC workflow for DC-specific tasks
• Provides step-by-step direction for server move
New server is added in planned state
Server marked as PLANNED
RFID Provides Real-Time View of New Server
New server arrives Unique RFID tag assigned to server RFID tag applied to server IT asset data into Fluensee AssetTrack Server sent to assigned rackAssetTrack and RFID Create the Real-Time
Data Center
Real-time discovery / monitoring of all tagged IT assets
Accurate record of all asset movements -- did planned movement actually occur?
Exception-based alerts when assets aren’t in the right place Incident reporting (standard or ad hoc reports)
Ability to schedule workflows and automatically update other systems Validation against service requests
Audit reporting -- do we have the assets that we think we have and is that information accurate in all systems?
Server placed in rack, move captured by
AssetTrack, updated in nlyte
Server now marked ACTIVE
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