Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM)

Intense pressure is being put on organizations to operate in a more sustainable manner by reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. They must also demonstrate their progress by complying with stringent reporting requirements. Our new expert paper details how companies can tackle decarbonization through better infrastructure management, and how FNT's new solution helps by documenting, analyzing and reporting on the carbon emissions of your customer's infrastructure.

In the rapidly evolving digital landscape, data center operators are seeking ways to adapt and optimize their operations for increased efficiency, resilience, and security. A digital twin, a virtual counterpart of the physical data center, has emerged as a promising solution.

In this third paper, we show how FNT specifically supports management of your data center cabling through a state-of-the-art software solution and decades of experience. After all, cable management is part of our DNA. Almost half of all DAX40 companies and more than 500 other major organizations around the world rely on our solutions to record, document, plan, and operate their critical cable infrastructures. Read on to discover how to future-proof the foundations of your digital transformation.

Digital twins play a pivotal role in managing today’s modern data centers. From design to operation to maintenance, using a digital twin in your data center management can make a huge difference in your ability to provide a resilient infrastructure, optimize resource usage, scale as needed – to name just a few concerns. This paper explores in detail what digital twin-enhanced data center management looks like, the value a digital twin adds to data center management, and how it is uniquely capable of overcoming the complex challenges of our increasingly digital world.

Increase the Efficiency of your Data Center Staff with AR-supported Infrastructure Management and Operations

What started in the 90s and was a vague vision of the future for most people back then, has now become part of our everyday lives. The possibilities that augmented reality (AR) offers us are extensive. Following this trend, the state-of-the-art technology is now also bringing innovations to data centers. Read all about the benefits of AR-driven DCIM in our brand new Partner Solution Paper and learn how the joint solution of FNT and Inceptum takes your DCIM to the next level!

The nerve pathways of digital transformation

Few aspects of digital infrastructure are as undervalued as network cabling – yet few are as critical to the process. Cabling provides the essential foundation for all forms of connectivity, data communication, and digital value creation. At the same time, the cables themselves are largely invisible, with more and more IT services being consumed from the cloud via WLAN. The highly qualified teams that provide and operate the cabling also work behind the scenes. This is especially true of the cabling in data centers, which is often regarded as a black box.

How a paradigm shift can fix cable chaos

In our white paper titled The Nerve Pathways of Digital Transformation, we highlighted the strategic importance and value of data center cabling. The focus was on the challenges around managing data center cabling, the consequences of inadequate cable management, and the warning signs that urgent action is needed. In this white paper, we examine how to turn data center cable management into a technical and economic success factor. We present the necessary changes to the fundamental approach and the positive effects that result from this paradigm shift. This is accompanied by a look at the increasing importance of professionalization, the use of professional software, and the tangible benefits it delivers for data center managers

Actions data center and network operators can take today for a more environmental-friendly tomorrow

Businesses concerned about sustainability are taking stock of their current situation, identifying areas to target for improvement, and formulating plans for how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. There are many strategies that can be used, and not all of them are obvious. This paper is an enlightening look at a number of different actions businesses can take to minimize the impact they are having on the environment.

Best Practices for Implementation

Physical IT infrastructure resources and assets form the basis for all IT services and are thus fundamental for business success. Managing cables, servers, and switches has always been a complex challenge but digital transformation and its consequences now make deployment of specialist tools a prerequisite for efficient management. Many rollouts of such tools fail for various reasons, e. g., the strategy, choice of tool, goals, or data collection. The result is that solutions are either not used at all or not used effectively. In this white paper, we discuss the most common issues encountered when implementing IT infrastructure management tools and how to avoid them.

Guide to understanding Top-Down DCIM and why it matters

Data centers are essential for the success of any modern business. Accordingly, their performance and availability are increasingly moving up the agenda of customers and senior management alike. But it is no longer enough to simply use space, power, and cooling as metrics. Given digital transformation and the central role of IT in an organization’s ability to deliver, data centers need to provide maximum support for business transactions. Traditional tools for data center infrastructure management (DCIM) have reached their limits. What is needed are integrated tools, standards, and data models that enable seamless, efficient management of IT infrastructure from top to bottom. This white paper looks at the differences between tool generations, what characterizes modern DCIM solutions, and why managing isolated solutions soon runs up against functional limits. The core question is: How can I future-proof my data center?

How to Evaluate and Transition to a New Solution

Whatever the motivating factor, every organization will at some point need to replace their DCIM software. Whether by choice or by force, there is a way to approach the process that will minimize the effort required and maximize the benefit not only to your data center, but to your organization overall.

This guide is full of useful information that can facilitate the process. It details what to look for in a replacement solution and best practices for how to migrate. It also lays out the justifications you’ll need to garner management support for the change initiative.

How to leverage the full potential of management tools and process with smart integration

In this white paper, we’ll discuss how to drive growth and automate processes through smart integration. Combining a data center infrastructure management (DCIM) solution with other business-critical systems will simplify and unify operational processes and allow you to achieve high-caliber data center management.

A Data Center´s Guide for Managing Hybrid Resources

The pandemic has heightened the need for digital transformation and is accelerating its mainstream adoption to support remote workforces, increased bandwidth, IoT, and virtualization. To ensure success in the aftermath of COVID-19 and remain competitive in a digital world, businesses must also understand how infrastructure management is evolving. In this white paper, we’ll discuss why today’s modern data centers need hybrid digital infrastructure management for greater visibility into digital infrastructure and to support increased mobility.

Taking data center automation to new levels with a combined FNT/ABB solution

Managing data centers is complicated. It involves multiple tools, a combination of manual and automated processes that aren’t always in sync, and data that isn’t always available when needed. A single solution simply cannot handle the complexity of a modern data center. Integrating best-in-class tools is the key to increasing efficiency and productivity across all departments. It makes sure all are working together in an integrated way and not operating in silos. Read our new white paper to learn how FNT together with ABB have made data center management more efficient just by working together.

A Guide for Operating Remote Sites

Current predictions by various experts indicate a rapid growth of edge computing. Many companies have now recognized the advantages of the edge and are in various stages of implementing their own edge strategies. This white paper discusses how organizations can keep track of and efficiently manage their geographically dispersed sites

Germany’s Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit) operates one of the largest and most complex corporate IT networks in Europe. Three redundantly designed data centers support the work of 120,000 employees at more than 1,680 locations. Historically, IT hardware, applications and IT infrastructure were mainly managed using Excel lists and Visio drawings, which were to be replaced by a highly functional, centralized IT platform.

In this webinar, ABB and FNT Software show how enterprises and colocation providers are employing integrated tools and processes to achieve high-caliber data center management. The focus will be on how to combine monitoring and control of facilities with IT asset management and capacity planning, and the big benefits that can be  realized as a result.