For many data center professionals, the daily operations of a data center require a lot of repetitive manual data entry tasks. Manually entering data about data center assets over and over again is not only time-consuming, but it risks inaccurate information due to human error. However, there is a new way forward.

As a global leader in second-generation Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) software, we have the opportunity to speak with a lot of data center professionals. One of the most common stories we hear is that they are still using Excel, Visio, open-source software, and homegrown tools to manage their data centers and that these tools are causing them a lot of pain. They're manually intensive, inaccurate, hard to use, and not integrated.

Did you know that the data center industry accounts for 3% of global electricity consumption and is expected to hit 4% by 2030? Due to rising energy costs and increased public pressure around the environmental impact of data centers, many of today’s organizations have launched corporate sustainability initiatives and data center professionals are cracking down on energy usage to support those goals.

Data center professionals have reached a breaking point. Data center infrastructure has grown too complex and distributed to manage with legacy tools like Excel, Visio, and homegrown systems. Manually updating multiple spreadsheets and diagrams for every change in the data center takes too much time and the information is too inaccurate to trust.

Data center management traditionally requires a lot of manual effort, and the same data often must be entered into multiple disparate systems. Not only does this waste time, but it leads to inaccurate data due to human error.

We’re proud to announce the general availability of dcTrack® 9.0, the latest version of Sunbird’s DCIM Operations software. This release includes exciting new features including XYZ.

Managing a data center traditionally requires entering the same information multiple times into disparate tools. This is a manual effort that is time-consuming and error-prone. Leading data center professionals don’t waste time swiveling between different tools. Instead, they implement “automation via integration” that saves time and increases the accuracy of data.

Main Distribution Frames (MDF) and Intermediate Distribution Frames (IDF) are integral components of modern data communication networks. Buildings or campus facilities have one or more MDFs which are the demarcation points where public or private telecommunication networks interconnect with the internal network. The MDF then connects to any number of IDFs in the building, and the devices in those IDFs connect to end devices such as workstations.

Data centers account for more than 2% of total global energy consumption. If action is not taken, it is estimated that data centers will be responsible for 8% of global energy consumption by 2030. Data center managers are under increased pressure to comply with corporate sustainability initiatives and dramatically increase their efficiency. To support their efforts, many data center professionals are turning to Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) software.

As we reflect on 2022, it’s important to identify the latest data center trends that will continue to impact how data centers are managed in 2023 and beyond. You must stay up to date on new industry trends in order to better support your organization and customers while staying competitive in your field. Here are five data center management trends that you should know about going into the new year.