Panduit builds out DCIM, now a centerpiece of its datacenter strategy

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1 Panduit builds out DCIM, now a centerpiece of its datacenter strategy Analyst: Rhonda Ascierto 19 Dec, 2013 Panduit is steadily executing an aggressive plan to capture more of the datacenter infrastructure management (DCIM) software market, as well as hardware to support those systems. Following its 2012 acquisition of Unite Technologies a provider of datacenter hardware, software and services Panduit now has a comprehensive DCIM platform that is strong in several areas. Panduit is integrating Unite's DCIM software, gateways and appliances; it has also adopted Unite's business-focused sales approach and branding, which it will extend across its entire DCIM platform in New DCIM features have been added, and additional capabilities are planned. The 451 Take Panduit is working toward solving a range of operator issues with software, hardware and services, while remaining open to third-party products. The Unite acquisition has helped Panduit round out its monitoring and management capabilities throughout the datacenter power chain, as well as grow its DCIM business. The integration has been slow but methodical, which should pay dividends in product functionality, usability and customer loyalty. Many operators tend to prefer full-featured DCIM systems; Panduit now also offers related hardware and services. However, despite its broad capabilities, when compared with large DCIM rivals, Panduit still has a relatively low profile, particularly around the emerging area of DCIM convergence with IT service management systems. Meanwhile, large well-known companies in adjacent markets are beginning to build up their DCIM capabilities. Copyright The 451 Group 1

2 Context Panduit, founded in 1955, has a global footprint, about 4,000 employees and estimated sales of $1bn. The Chicago-based company's datacenter offerings range from cabling and connectivity products to advanced unified systems that span power, security and communications. Panduit has articulated a unified strategy that brings together many of its datacenter offerings, with DCIM as a centerpiece. The privately held company does not disclose financials, but management says DCIM revenue grew in 2013, particularly in the second half with some significant deals, and that its DCIM business is profitable. The Unite acquisition was Panduit's first, an indication of the importance of management software to Panduit's broader datacenter business. Unite boosted Panduit's number of DCIM customers considerably, now totaling more than 225. In 2013 Panduit added at least 25 additional customers, five of which were sizeable multi-datacenter operations. Most of its DCIM customers cannot be publicly named. Cabelas, Hertz, Xerox, Silver Cross Hospital and Zen Internet are among its reference customers. Panduit says that it has very few paid DCIM trials or pilot projects. Half of its DCIM customers are mostly using Panduit's software, with the remainder mostly using Unite's. The products are cross-compatible (both have SNMP and XML plug-ins), and customers are integrating features from one system into another. Most of Panduit's DCIM customers in 2013 used its software solely in their datacenters, while about 25% also used it in nondatacenter buildings. This is a shift from 2012, when roughly half were using it in mixed-use office-datacenter facilities. Panduit says it has expanded its reach into existing brownfield datacenters in which its software is used as part of efficiency initiatives. A number of Panduit's DCIM software customers have also purchased DCIM-related hardware from the company. This type of upsell is more common for new or greenfield datacenters. Asset tracking and environmental monitoring sensors, intelligent patch panels, power clamps, and smart power distribution units (PDUs) are among the hardware that is purchased as part of a DCIM sale. Panduit and Unite software also integrate with third-party industry-standard hardware. In recent years, Panduit has developed integrated systems that span datacenter power, security and communications. In partnership with companies such as Cisco, IBM, HP and EMC, Panduit sells optimized racks and modules in which IT gear, cabling, control functions, and other features are installed and preconfigured. This has enabled high margins, high-value sales and greater early-stage influence in the total design of a datacenter. Copyright The 451 Group 2

3 Technology and roadmap Panduit's DCIM product is its Physical Infrastructure Management (PIM) suite. While PIM's feature set is broad, its focus tilts heavily toward managing IT assets and connectivity. Unite's main DCIM product, DCIQ, also has asset management features, but is focused mostly on monitoring and management of power and energy. Some customers are deploying the two software packages side by side, where one acts as the (master) data repository and the other as a (slave) data feed. Panduit's DCIM software, known today as version 5, is a DCIM suite that manages power distribution, power quality, cooling, IT and water resources. In addition to reports and dashboards, there are five core modules within the suite to manage: power monitoring, connectivity, work orders, floor plan rack-view asset attributes, and capacity planning and forecasting. Integration of Panduit and Unite's DCIM capabilities is ongoing; the integration will be complete in 2014, and the platform rebranded as Panduit SmartZone Infrastructure Management 2.0. Panduit says existing customers will not be forced to upgrade, and that it will continue to support both PIM and DCIQ for a period of time. Once PIM and DCIQ are fully integrated, the result should be a large amount of information about a datacenter and its operations being available from a single platform. This will enable Panduit to develop additional advanced features, including improved capacity planning. New features planned for 2014 include being able to identify and forecast remaining available capacity. The company also plans to add mobile asset tracking and inventory auditing features for handheld devices. Panduit has made a fair amount of progress in pulling together its various DCIM components. In 2013 it integrated Unite's DCIQ gateway appliance with Panduit's DCIM software. This rack-mounted appliance aggregates data from hardware, such as sensors, keypads and swipe-card readers, using the IP protocol. The appliance acts as a localized consolidation point for data collected from a single datacenter zone (such as one IT hall) or across multiple datacenters. This plays into Panduit's overarching vision, which it calls its Unified Physical Infrastructure (UPI) framework, to unite physical and logical (nonphysical) systems via open Internet protocols to increase performance. Panduit says it is not a rip-and-replace strategy, but more about integrating existing systems that are SNMP-based or making them interoperable with other IP-based systems. Panduit has additional DCIM-related hardware, such as power monitoring appliances and environmental sensors and meters. In addition to the integration work, Panduit is adding new DCIM features, including a 'Best Fit' Copyright The 451 Group 3

4 asset-provisioning feature that identifies where devices are best placed based on availability of space, cooling, power and connectivity. It shows where contiguous cabinet space is available for devices that need to be physically grouped together, and it automatically initiates work orders to provision devices. Another new feature will be the ability to identify and manage stranded capacity, which is capacity that can't be used by IT because of a lack of floor or rack space, or power or cooling (or the distribution thereof). There is also an advanced cabling management feature that enables operators to document, label and manage a wide range of aspects related to cabling, including compliance with ANSI/TIA/EIA 606 documentation requirements. Generating work orders from these new capabilities is a focus. In terms of integrating DCIM features with IT service management (ITSM) systems, Panduit has out-of-the-box application programming interfaces (APIs) that enable bi-directional data exchange with ITSM products from BMC Software (Remedy), HP and IBM (certain Tivoli products). Data that is pulled from (and pushed to) these systems is surfaced in reports and dashboards. However, it is not yet integrated into Panduit's DCIM workflow capabilities as a standard feature, but Panduit says it has begun work in this area. Go-to-market strategy Panduit has adopted Unite's 6-Zone Methodology approach to grouping operational problem areas into facility 'zones.' Within each zone, its software monitors and manages power, energy, assets, connectivity and thermal conditions. Broadly speaking, the zones span a datacenter's or building's power chain and related resources, covering the building ingress, distribution boards, cooling equipment, boilers, lighting, data halls, and rack- and device-levels, including switches, storage and services. Each zone can represent a problem area for example, stranded power or cooling, or server underutilization that maps to a DCIM feature, such as environmental monitoring or IT utilization tracking. Customers can address one or more zones simultaneously or over time. Panduit is also targeting very small datacenters with new SmartZone Rack Energy Kits. These are rack-mounted or noninvasive packages that can include basic DCIM capabilities and a (vendor-neutral) data aggregation gateway, and possibly smart power strips. The kits are cost-effective up to about 30 racks beyond that, it is less expensive to deploy fuller-featured PIM-DCIQ software. Copyright The 451 Group 4

5 Competition With more than 55 DCIM suppliers, competition in the DCIM market is fierce. Panduit competes more directly against the likes of ABB, Emerson Network Power, CA Technologies, itracs and Schneider Electric, as well as smaller pure-play suppliers such as Nlyte Software, Cormant, Optimum Path and others that provide a full spectrum of DCIM features, from power monitoring to IT asset management. Panduit also competes with numerous other DCIM suppliers that focus heavily on power, such as Eaton, Power Analytics and Power Assure. Other players with an emphasis on operational monitoring and management include FieldView Solutions, Geist, Modius and Raritan. RiT Technologies is another DCIM rival, and one that has a similar cabling heritage as Panduit. SWOT Analysis Strengths Weaknesses Panduit is a large company that is strong in several DCIM areas, including advanced cable management. Its integrated data aggregation device should make its DCIM platform highly scalable. Opportunities Threats The DCIM market will continue to grow for many years. Panduit can sell DCIM to its many cabling customers, helped by its brand and access. It can also participate in the growing market for energy management software for buildings. Panduit may still be viewed by some as a cabling specialist; it remains a relatively low-profile DCIM supplier, despite its rather broad capabilities. Panduit was not an early mover in the DCIM market, so it may take some time for it to join the leading group of vendors in terms of sales. Copyright The 451 Group 5

6 Reproduced by permission of The 451 Group; This report was originally published within 451 Research's Market Insight Service. For additional information on 451 Research or to apply for trial access, go to: Copyright The 451 Group 6