In its January 2012 report, IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Datacenter Infrastructure Management (DCIM) 2011 Vendor Analysis, IDC named iTRACS a Major Player Worldwide in Data Center Infrastructure Management.

“According to IDC analysis and buyer perception, iTRACS is an IDC MarketScape Major Player worldwide. The company performed well in criteria regarding business strategy and capabilities – in particular, its innovation, funding, and employee management scored high,” IDC stated.

Among its many important insights, the analyst firm also made this recommendation:

“Even as IDC was formulating this MarketScape, the landscape was changing. New partnerships, product capabilities, and even the players themselves continue to take shape. However, this is no reason to wait to adopt DCIM because a lack of knowledge and orchestration in the datacenter is a threat to efficiency and availability daily.”

IDC was saying, essentially, don’t delay on DCIM simply because the marketplace is evolving.  The stakes are too high to sit on the sidelines.

And what are the stakes IDC referred to?

Efficiency and availability.

We couldn’t agree more.

As iTRACS VP of Converged Solutions Dan Fry wrote in his recent Green Data Center: Myth vs. Reality article, “efficiency is all about doing the most with what you already have – or making do with less.”

This means using DCIM to acquire meaningful, actionable information about where data center inefficiencies exist and how to correct them without putting your operation at risk. DCIM with Interactive 3D Visualization creates a centralized, single-pane view of the entire physical infrastructure so you can see and understand the complex interrelationships between all of your assets across IT, Facilities, and Business Management Systems.

The bottom line is this: You need to manage this infrastructure with brains, not brawn. You cannot afford to make changes haphazardly or, in the pursuit of efficiency, put your service levels at risk or create other unforeseen issues. You need comprehensive insight and knowledge that drive informed decsision-making and eliminate guesswork from the equation.

This is the kind of knowledge that DCIM with Interactive 3D Visualization puts at your fingertips. Knowledge that can help protect and nurture both your efficiency and your availability.

When you work really hard, and are relentless in the pursuit of innovation and the delivery of business value to the customer, good things happen.

Ask Elizabeth Given, President and CEO of iTRACS, and she’ll tell you that’s an important take-away from the recent announcement that iTRACS has been named an IDC Major Player Worldwide in Data Center Infrastructure Management.

“iTRACS provides a very capable product that fits well with larger, more advanced datacenter environments. It has very capable employees, great marketing, and a sound financial base,” IDC stated in its January 2012 report, IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Datacenter Infrastructure Management (DCIM) 2011 Vendor Analysis.

“We’re proud to be recognized by IDC as leaders in DCIM,” Ms. Given said. “We believe this is a validation of iTRACS’ long tradition of delivering demonstrable business value to customers – value that is quantifiable, continuous, and strategic.”

In addition to evaluating vendors, the IDC MarketScape report made a number of observations about the evolution of the DCIM space that aligned with iTRACS’ own evolution as a DCIM vendor, Ms. Given said. She pointed to three in particular.

Convergence – “We launched our Converged Physical Infrastructure Management™ (CPIM™) solution three years ago knowing that IT, Facilities, and Building Management Systems could not continue to operate as independent silos if data centers were to achieve breakthrough improvements in energy efficiency, cost reduction, and space utilization. Convergence was inevitable – and now it is here.”

Efficiency – “We agree with IDC that efficiency, availability, and cost are the key drivers in the data center, especially around the challenges of space, power, and cooling. Efficiency is the holy grail because it feeds into so many enterprise-wide improvements. This is why customers and partners like Intel and CA Technologies are working with iTRACS to evolve new efficiency metrics – what we’re calling DCIM Business Output™ – that reflect the unique challenges of both IT and Facilities, and the value proposition of DCIM.”

Single-Pane View – “We agree with IDC that some type of orchestration is needed to keep power, cooling, space, servers, networking, and storage in equilibrium. That’s why we engineered an open systems, single-pane view of 
the data center that offers point-and-click navigability through the entire physical infrastructure. It’s an integrated enterprise-class solution that orchestrates the management of the physical layer.”

Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas, December 5-7, 2011 – iTRACS and Intel showcased their new joint Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) solution at the Gartner Data Center Conference here, and their collaboration generated a ton of interest.

“This is exactly what we’ve been looking for,” said a senior executive for one of the world’s biggest Energy companies.

Noted an executive with a major CoLocation Provider, “The interactive 3D visualization is exceptional.”

A decision-maker with one of the leaders in Social Media got right to the point: “We need to be doing this – yesterday.”

The demonstration showcased how Intel Data Center Manager software, working seamlessly with iTRACS Converged Physical Infrastructure Management™ (CPIM™), is extending the visibility, reach, and analytics capabilities of iTRACS PowerEye™. iTRACS PowerEye™ is a knowledge-rich strategy offering visualization and management of the entire power chain, end-to-end, across IT, Facilities, and Building Management Systems. Intel Data Center Manager extends iTRACS’ collection, management, and analysis of power, temperature, and environmental readings right down to the device level (CPU). This extension enhances energy management decision-making across a range of initiatives:

• Improving capacity planning and increasing densities using real-world power and temperature readings
• Identifying and replacing energy-guzzling assets with energy efficient ones
• Eliminating under- or over-cooling issues
• Using “what if” scenarios to identify and resolve potential power circuit overloads and data center hot spots created by changes or additions – before they become actual problems

It’s all about efficiency and availability – something both organizations are obviously quite passionate about.