EMA Radar for Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM)

Transcription

1 EMA Radar for Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) Report Summary & Emerson Network Power Profile By Steve Brasen ENTERPRISE MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATES (EMA ) Radar Report December 2012

2 Table of Contents Executive Summary... 1 The DCIM Landscape... 1 Assessing the DCIM Market... 2 Characteristics of a Preferred Solution... 3 Architecture and Integration... 3 Functionality... 4 Deployment and Administration... 6 Cost Advantage... 6 Vendor Strength... 7 Evaluation Criteria... 7 Feature Eligibility... 7 Financial Evaluation... 7 Notable Absences... 8 EMA RADAR TM for Data Center Infrastructure Management... 9 DCIM Market Overview... 9 DCIM Value Leader: Emerson Network Power Awards Emerson Network Power Most Comprehensive Emerson Network Power Profile

3 Executive Summary Although only fully defined in the past few years, Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) has been broadly accepted as the primary method for achieving effective and efficient IT implementations, operations and management processes. The ability to leverage analytics and detailed modeling capabilities to provide real-time visibility across complex IT ecosystems enables organization to optimize a variety of critical infrastructure support elements, including energy efficiency, heat distribution, space management, network connectivity and system performance. Of the hundreds of solutions on the market claiming these capabilities, only a handful have been identified by Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) to deliver full DCIM support. In this EMA Radar Report, seven of these leading DCIM solution sets have been reviewed and empirically compared across a broad range of measurements that identify product strengths and overall cost efficiency. The DCIM Landscape It seems that nearly every management vendor even remotely supporting data center services today is leveraging the DCIM moniker as a description of their product set. This is unfortunate as very few solutions in the marketplace are able to rise to the level of providing true DCIM capabilities and the misuse of the term only serves to create confusion amongst consumers and detracts from identifying the real value of DCIM management practices. At its core, DCIM enables a holistic view of the IT ecosystem that dynamically recognizes the relationship of one device to all the others. In other words, when a device is introduced, changes or fails, DCIM processes help determine how the disruption will affect the performance of all other devices and conditions in the environment. Solutions that offer limited infrastructure visibility (for example, just data on energy consumption) cannot be considered DCIM platforms because they cannot achieve holistic monitoring and management of the infrastructure by only looking at a narrow set data center environment elements. All DCIM solutions must, at minimum, provide automation support in three key areas: data collection, infrastructure modeling and analytical reporting. Data collection is an aspect of asset management All DCIM solutions must, requiring the development and centralized storage of a detailed device at minimum, provide inventory that also provides on-going health status of every physical automation support in three asset in the IT infrastructure. Additionally, data collection processes key areas: data collection, must continuously monitor environmental conditions, such as energy infrastructure modeling consumption, temperature, humidity and airflow. Collected data is and analytical reporting. used to develop a digital model of the infrastructure that is regularly updated to ensure it provides an accurate representation of existing conditions within the environment. Although not strictly required, this model is ideally presented in a graphical view that visually presents all the data center elements in an easily digestible format. This environment model is essential to establishing and presenting visibility into the interrelationships of all supported IT assets. To determine these relationships, however, requires a level of analytics that interpret the complex IT ecosystem to rapidly identify any potential problems or inefficiencies. These reported, displayed or alarmed conditions provide the critical intelligence necessary for informed decision making on environment improvements that will drive more effective IT performance and greater cost efficiencies. 1

4 DCIM is a relatively young discipline with management practices that have only been identified in the past few years. It is no surprise, then, that automation solutions are still radically evolving. Many have been built on older, proven management platforms that have extended their capabilities to support the holistic monitoring and management requirements of DCIM. Others have been purpose-built from the ground up to achieve these capabilities, and still others are a combination of the two leveraging key elements from matured technology to provide a fully integrated platform directly targeting DCIM goals. The product evaluations included in this EMA Radar should be considered a snapshot in time as all the solutions are undergoing continuous development improvements. Today, for example, very few solutions natively provide full Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFDs) in determining airflow and its relationship to thermal conditions (though several do integrate with third-party solutions that provide this capability). As DCIM solutions evolve, it can be expected that CFDs will play a more crucial role in the identification and prediction of environment inefficiencies. Nonetheless, it is undeniable that the leading DCIM solutions available on the market today are already delivering very robust management experiences and quantifiable Returns On Investment (ROI). It is undeniable that the leading DCIM solutions available on the market today are already delivering very robust management experiences and quantifiable ROI. Assessing the DCIM Market To assist enterprises in the identification of value solutions that deliver true DCIM capabilities, EMA has evaluated the leading platforms available on the market today. EMA s review process began with the determination of critical DCIM features and capabilities. This list was used to establish evaluation KPIs that were ranked and weighted to correspond with the requirements EMA determined to be prioritized by organizations that have adopted or plan to adopt a DCIM platform. The prioritization determinations have been based on discussions with IT operations and facilities managers, survey-based research responses and EMA s own experience and knowledge of enterprise requirements and best practices. From these KPIs, a minimum level of functional requirements was established to identify which management platforms qualify for recognition as true DCIM solutions. Minimum requirements included providing automation to perform all three principle process elements (data collection, infrastructure modeling and analytical reporting) and the ability to holistically deliver visibility across the entire data center infrastructure (including physical assets and environmental conditions). After an extensive review of the numerous products claiming DCIM capabilities, EMA identified only ten candidates that could be reasonably considered to deliver true DCIM functionality. The identified DCIM vendors were invited to participate in the evaluation process and were submitted a detailed questionnaire on the capabilities, cost and supportability of their respective product sets. More than 150 points of comparison were considered and all responses were carefully vetted for accuracy. EMA also conducted interviews with vendor customers to confirm product capabilities and indicate customer satisfaction with the product sets. Scoring of the vendor solutions was mathematically calculated by correlating available features, architectures, pricing and capabilities with the predetermined KPIs. Some individual feature scorings were adjusted based on customer first-hand experiences with the product sets. Final scoring of each product set was used in the product comparison charts and in the determination of award winners. 2

5 Characteristics of a Preferred Solution The EMA Radar Report standardizes the evaluation of product sets in specific management disciplines by comparing vendor and product review elements in five distinct categories. Identified below are the elements EMA believes are indicative of an ideal DCIM solution in each of the primary categories: Architecture and Integration The ideal DCIM solution is architected to provide a centralized management console for supporting all locally and remotely supported IT infrastructure elements. If multiple management servers are necessary to support especially large or geographically distributed environments, all servers should be managed from a single master server and accessed from a single interface. A Web-based interface is critical for enabling access to the management system from any location, including mobile devices. Scalability of the product set is achieved by enabling expansion that is based on increasing enterprise requirements (i.e. growing number of support endpoints and data centers, expanded DCIM process needs, etc.). EMA favors a modular approach in achieving scalability as it allows organizations to adopt and expand the platform according to their size and level of DCIM maturity, but to be effective all modules must be fully integrated. Data collection is an essential component of DCIM, so the breadth of data center components and environmental elements that are recorded must also be considered. Data collection is an essential component of DCIM, so the breadth of data center components and environmental elements that are recorded must also be considered. An ideal platform will automatically detect and record asset and status data from all data center endpoints, including (but not limited to) servers, environmental units (i.e. chillers), networking devices, storage devices, environmental sensors, power distribution units (PDUs) and intelligent racks. Additionally, the increased adoption of embedded technologies (i.e. IPMI, Dell DRAC, HP ilo, Intel DCM, etc.) provide opportunities for detail data mining even when systems are powered down, so direct integrations with these platforms greatly increases a solution s value. To increase data collection opportunities, a broad range of protocols must be employed, such as SNMP, WMI, Modbus, and BACnet, and all collected information should be recorded in a single, centralized data repository. All management elements within a DCIM solution should be fully integrated with each other, and direct integration with third party management products should be established to extend the platform capabilities. Direct integration implies the solutions share common code, employ common data collection processes, utilize a common management interface, and/or store data in a common repository without the need for additional customization. Some examples of direct integrations with DCIM platforms would be federated access to Configuration Management Databases (CMDBs), integration with virtualization management platforms (e.g. VMware vcenter), the ability to directly execute automated tasks on server management solutions (e.g. Microsoft System Center, IBM Tivoli, CA Server Automation), and the ability to directly access and update records on a service desk (e.g. BMC Remedy). Additionally, robust APIs should be provided to allow the easy establishment of custom integrations. 3

6 Functionality The core of any DCIM platform is in how it is able to manipulate and present the extensive infrastructure data it has collected in such a way as to enable a holistic visibility into the environment for informed decision making. Further, this view of the interconnectivity of the IT ecosystem should be leveraged to initiate automated activities for the dynamic optimization of the environment. Nearly every data center management practice can be enhanced through this process. However, EMA has identified several specific areas of support that DCIM platforms should include to be considered comprehensive: Asset Management Attribute and status details on all data center physical asset should be collected and recorded in a centralized data repository. Key device details should include: brand, model, configuration (e.g. CPU, memory, disk), hostname, owner, purchase cost/value, operating system, IP address, MAC address, firmware versions, health status, network performance status and attached peripherals. The solution should have the ability to group assets by organizations, user roles, physical locations or network segments to enable consolidated views and reports. Ideally, a percentage of ownership should be assigned to each asset so that accurate calculations can be performed for chargeback and metering. Visual Modeling Collected asset data must be modeled to enable a holistic view of the complete physical, virtual and environmental IT ecosystem. These models should be graphically imaged to enable easy identification of physical asset locations, configurations, and status. The more detailed the data center imaging, the more rapidly administrators can absorb infrastructure conditions and make decisions on environment optimization. 3-D visualizations, for example, provide more accurate representations of infrastructure details than 2-D visualizations. Graphical representations should be provided for multiple scales from individual devices, to racks, to whole data centers, to an entire facilities location, to geographical regions supporting multiple IT infrastructures. Power Management Details on energy consumption and distribution of the entire power train should be recorded. This includes data for individual devices, racks, Power Distribution Units (PDUs), Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPSs), on-site generators and provider sub-station feeds. All energy consumption should be historically tracked, metered by use, and alarmed to ensure power caps and other limitations are not exceeded. Automated power control should also be included enabling the initiation and scheduling of graceful shutdowns of servers and other devices during periods of non-use. Thermal Management Data must be collected on thermal conditions across the infrastructure from live readings taken directly by sensors, chillers, embedded server technologies, or other temperature recording devices. Estimated temperature conditions are also possible by calculating server configurations with performance data, but these will likely yield less accurate results. Thermal data should be visually modeled and mapped to allow rapid identification of hot spots and indicate opportunities for reducing costs and power consumption related to cooling. Airflow conditions will also affect heat distribution, so an ideal solution will identify air flow requirements of devices and model how existing airflow affects thermal conditions across the data center. 4

7 Space Management Features should be included to enable the rapid identification of available space and environment resources. These include physical data center floor space, physical rack space, weight capacities, as well as power and networking availability. Automation that quickly identifies available space based on administrator-identified requirements will greatly simplify processes for device adds, moves and changes. Hypothetical Modeling An advanced DCIM solution is able to leverage current environment status and historical trending data to create hypothetical models. In this way, a move, add or change event can be introduced into a what if scenario that accurately predicts the impacts of that alteration on the IT environment, before actually implementing it. For instance, prior to the deployment of a new server, a hypothetical model can be created to see how that server will affect power and thermal condition of device that will share that rack as well as those on neighboring racks. Leveraging this, administrators can optimize the new installation before deployment, greatly reducing error and remediation time. Hypothetical modeling also allows organizations to proactively identify optimal data center configurations without impacting production environments. Access and Control Remote console access to servers and other devices allows enterprises to geographically consolidate administrative staff while improving security and reducing unexpected failure incidents (e.g. tripping over a power cable) by minimizing physical traffic in the data center. Types of remote console access include IP-based network access, serial console over IP access, full Keyboard-Video-Monitor (KVM) access, and access to service processors (i.e. embedded technologies). Integrating remote console access directly into a DCIM platform allows administrators to instantly react to alerts and conditions reported by the solution and feed the results back into the system without engaging in swivel-chair management. Reporting and Alarming Reports are essential to identifying the status of the environment, identifying areas for improvement and achieving proof of compliance. Critical reports should be provided out of the box that identify critical IT health conditions across the infrastructure. For example, Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) ratings should be continuously calculated and reported to provide a key indicator of the level of computing energy efficiency in relation to total data center environmental costs. Alarms should also be provided to immediately alert administrators when conditions (such as power, temperature or performance spikes) exceed established thresholds. Organizations that engage in environmental certificate (REC) trading or are subjected to related regulatory compliance will also require periodic reporting of energy consumption and associated carbon generation. For the latter, a DCIM platform will need to record details on the source of energy (i.e. coal fired, solar, wind, etc.) at each supported facilities to calculate the resulting amount of total carbon emissions. 5

8 Deployment and Administration The single most critical element in the introduction of a DCIM platform is the ease in which asset data is collected and recorded. In The single most critical fact, EMA s general investigation of DCIM adoption indicated more element in the introduction than half of the attempts either stalled or failed due to an inability of a DCIM platform is the to rapidly collect sufficient infrastructure details to enable a holistic ease in which asset data modeling of the infrastructure. Essential to the simplification of an is collected and recorded. initial DCIM solution deployment are features for auto-detecting devices, automated data collection processes and direct integrations with data recording elements (e.g. intelligent sensors, racks, and PDUs). The process can be further eased by integrating the solution with devices that read barcodes and RFID chips which reduce the amount of necessary manual data entry. Visually modeling the collected data can also be a time consuming task if left to purely manual processes. An ideal solution will natively provide and continuously update a massive library of device images that can be selected and dropped into the data center graphical representation. Out-of-the-box graphical elements should include servers, racks, environmental equipment, PDUs and networking devices all of which should be pre-populated with details on the device dimensions, weight, power consumption, thermal requirements, indicator lights and cabling ports. Recognizing that it is not possible to provide pre-built representations of all data center devices, a facility should be natively included to easily build custom device graphics. The resulting visual model of the data center should provide an accurate representation of real-world IT infrastructure that intuitively displays status and conditions of the environment so administrators can rapidly respond to conditions and events. Vendors must also display a commitment to supporting the DCIM platform and the user community. Maintenance contracts should be offered that deliver responsive and continuously available live support as well as timely product updates. Vendors should offer professional services that are staffed with support professionals that are knowledgeable about their solution set and DCIM processes to assist customers with training, problem solving, environment optimization and the initial product deployment. Vendors should also engage the user community by hosting on-line forums and regular conferences or meetings to educate organizations on effective use of their platforms and on DCIM best practices. Cost Advantage Pricing models for a DCIM platform should be simple to understand and easy to calculate. Of the platforms EMA evaluated, nearly all offer fixed license pricing based on the number of supported endpoints (i.e. individual servers, devices, or racks). Similarly, maintenance costs are typically calculated as a percentage of the total license costs; however, some vendors offer the first year of maintenance for free. Naturally, any product comparison that is limited to just cost elements will favor solutions offered at with the lowest license fees. However, EMA recommends organizations perform price comparisons that recognize their unique enterprise requirements. Purchasing a low-cost solution may impede an organization from achieving long-term DCIM goals and purchasing a more comprehensive solution may not be cost-effective if the advanced features are never used. It is important to right-size a solution based on projected future requirements as well as existing goals. 6

9 Vendor Strength Consumers should always be aware of a vendor s stability and commitment to a platform prior to adoption of the solution in order to be sure of its long-term viability. A vendor that is financially strong with high revenue and vast equity is more likely to continue support for a management platform. Solution providers that invest heavily in research and development will also be assured of maintaining continual value in the platforms architecture and feature set. Strategic and channel partnerships also increase vendor relevance in the market space and customer loyalty extends visible credibility. Additionally, a vendor s vision and strategy for development, innovation and foresight of future requirements indicates whether a management solution will maintain optimal value in a dynamic marketplace. Evaluation Criteria Feature Eligibility In order for a product set to be credited with a feature or capability in EMA s evaluation, it was required to meet three strict criteria: The features needed to be generally available with the solution set at the time of the evaluation (i.e. by August 2012). Any features that were in beta testing or were scheduled to be included in later releases of the management suite were not eligible for consideration. All features needed to be self-contained within the included package sets. Any features not directly included in the evaluated package sets but available separately from the same vendor or thirdparty vendors for an additional cost were identified as available through direct integration and acknowledged in the Architecture and Integration evaluation. All reported features must be clearly documented in publically available resources (such as user manuals or technical papers) for verification. Financial Evaluation To enable product license cost comparisons that are as fair as can possibly be attained through analytical process, EMA developed three sample infrastructure models and asked vendors to provide price quotes for each. Price quotes needed to encompass all products, add-ons and modules necessary to achieve the functionality credited in all the other sections of the evaluation. Where possible, price quotes were verified through discussions with end users and other public sources. The three models used in EMA s evaluation were: Small Infrastructure Model: 100 racks consisting of: 3500 servers (35 servers per rack) cores (4 cores per server) 100 additional devices (i.e. switches, routers, storage, chillers, etc.) 50 additional data collection points (sensors, PDUs, etc.) Supported by 14 administrators (250 servers per administrator) 7

10 Large Infrastructure Model: 2000 racks consisting of: 70,000 servers (35 servers per rack) 280,000 cores (4 cores per server) 2000 additional devices (i.e. switches, routers, storage, chillers, etc.) 1000 additional data collection points (sensors, PDUs, etc.) Supported by 200 administrators (350 servers per administrator) Multi-Site Infrastructure Model: Supporting five large data centers and five small data centers based on the environment criteria established above. Costs for the highest level of maintenance were applied to price quotes supplied for each model and annualized over a period of ten years. Total costs for the solution licenses and ten years of maintenance were than calculated for each of the three models and empirically rated on a pricing scale (i.e. rated from 1 10 with a two decimal point level of accuracy). Ratings for all three models were then averaged to provide the final scoring reported in this evaluation. Notable Absences In addition to the solutions identified in this evaluation, a few other product sets were determined to achieve true DCIM functionality but were not reviewed by EMA. Here is the list of non-participating vendors and the reasons they were not included in this evaluation: CA EMA engaged CA for participation, but the vendor was unable to meet the deadline for completion of the detailed product survey. Lacking sufficient information, EMA was unable to perform an in-depth analysis of the vendor s DCIM product set. However, EMA believes CA did make an honest (though not timely) effort to participate. IBM EMA approached IBM for participation but was informed, IBM is currently making significant investments in (the DCIM) space and planning a solution that is an integral part of our strategy at the intersection of facility management (IWMS), IT asset management, and energy management. We intend to provide customers a solution based on the same platform and architecture as other Tivoli solutions. We will have to decline at this time to participate until our solution is completed. Schneider Electric Despite multiple attempts by EMA to contact the vendor, Schneider Electric was completely unresponsive to requests to provide product information. Lacking sufficient details, EMA was unable to perform an in-depth analysis of the vendor s DCIM platform and recommends caution in adopting solutions from a vendor that does not openly provide details about its products. 8

11 EMA RADAR TM for Data Center Infrastructure Management DCIM Market Overview Value in any solution can be clearly defined by comparing the strength of the platform with its cost effectiveness. The EMA DCIM Bubble Chart below provides graphical representations of evaluated industry leaders positioning in relation to both critical axes. The Product Strength axis combines evaluation scores for Functionality with Architecture & Integration. Cost Efficiency, on the other hand, is calculated by adding the scores achieved for Cost Advantage and Deployment & Administration. The size of each bubble indicates the Vendor Strength as identified in their individual reviews. 9

12 DCIM Value Leader: Emerson Network Power Leveraging technologies developed for its Avocent, Aperture, and Liebert product lines, Emerson has introduced Trellis, a new management platform purpose built to provide fully integrated DCIM functionality. With direct integrations extending into the vendor s other management solutions, Emerson s DCIM solution delivers the most comprehensive feature set evaluated by EMA. Of particular note is the ability to deliver real-time infrastructure views, broad support for virtualization implementations and direct integrations with every leading embedded technology platform. Awards Emerson Network Power Most Comprehensive EMA s evaluation of Emerson s integrated DCIM solution set centered around the Trellis management platform revealed broad capabilities that cross all the key areas EMA has determined for comprehensive DCIM, including asset management, power management, thermal management, space management, server management, access and control, visual modeling, reporting and alarming. Of particular note is the inclusion of server access and support capabilities that are commonly not provided in DCIM platforms that primarily focus on meeting only facilities requirements. EMA believes the inclusion of resources to directly enhance the security and support processes of servers as well as those of environmental conditions is critical to creating a holistic monitoring and support infrastructure that bridges the gap between facilities management and IT operations. On this basis, EMA has determined that Emerson has provided the most comprehensive DCIM solution set for balancing both sides of the IT infrastructure management equation. 10

13 Emerson Network Power Profile Introduction The Avocent business unit of Emerson Network Power, a business of Emerson (NYSE:EMR), was formed in 2010 to develop and deliver enterprise-class IT infrastructure management and control solutions. Emerson Network Power was already well established as a provider of data center management solutions with popular brands including the Aperture and Liebert business lines when it acquired Avocent in 2009, solidifying its position as a leader in the DCIM market space. In 2011, Emerson leveraged the DCIM capabilities from the three business lines and created the new, purposebuilt Trellis platform, delivering a modular and scalable platform for performing dynamic infrastructure optimization. Key functions of Trellis include: inventory management, power systems management, change planning, energy insight and site management. In addition to the core Trellis platform, the following integrated product components were evaluated by EMA: Aperture software suite Avocent Universal Management Gateway Avocent Data Center Planner software Avocent DSView management software Avocent Rack Power Manager Avocent MergePoint Unity KVM appliance Avocent ACS serial over IP console server Liebert SiteScan Liebert Nform According to Emerson, the Trellis suite should not be considered a repackaging of existing IT products 11

14 for DCIM rather, the entire platform and each of the application components have been designed to function collaboratively to meet customer requirements for data center operations across IT and facilities systems supporting monitoring, threshold and automated response capabilities, management, DC resource planning/allocation, and the diagnostic triage necessary for successful data center operations. Emerson Network Power at a Glance Founded: 1890 HQ Location: Locations Worldwide: Columbus, OH (Avocent Business Unit is based in Huntsville, AL) More than 150 countries Total Employees: Approximately 50,000 Ownership: Vendor URL: Twitter: Public (NYSE: EMR) Architecture and Integration Although the capabilities of the three major business lines (Aperture, Liebert & Avocent) that formed the hardware and software backbone of the Trellis platform were initially developed independently, Emerson invested heavily into the Trellis platform to provide integrated application functionality, designed to deliver a unified management experience. The Trellis centralized management console provides a single interface to support all DCIM management processes in a single environment or across multi-site implementations. On the one hand, the legacy independent development of the packages does not lend itself to a completely seamless merging of the product sets (i.e. shared code elements across all management processes), but on the other hand the integration efforts have enabled consolidated functional support such as common data collection process, shared data repositories, and a centralized interface that are most critical to unifying support activities and avoiding swivel chair management. What s more, the individual solution components can be adopted independently as organizations grow and increase DCIM requirements, allowing the solution to scale with organizational needs while still maintaining functional integration. Both the software and appliance hardware components of the Trellis solution employ agentless, real-time data collection across a variety of protocols, including SNMP, modbus, backnet, OPC, Velocity and IPMI integration. Up to 10,000 data points per minute can be collected, filtered and analyzed by the Trellis platform, and Complex Event Processing (CEP) capabilities in Oracle Fusion have been incorporated into the solution to deliver prioritized and actionable alerts and alarms, facilitating rapid problem identification and resolution. The Trellis core platform is built on a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), enabling integrations via published and consumed Web services. Additionally, SOA Web services provide federated integration with IT Service Management (ITSM) platforms, such as service desks (e.g. BMC Remedy), management platforms (e.g. IBM Tivoli, HP Operations Manager, Cisco UCS) and CMDBs (e.g. BMC Atrium, HP UCMDB and IBM Tivoli CCMDB). Through the Avocent Universal Management Gateway, broad integrations are enabled with embedded technologies including HP ILo 2/3 BladeSystem, Dell DRAC4/5/6, Dell idrac (M1000e chassis), IBM Blade Center, IMM, Cisco UCS, Sun ELOM/ ILOM, Fujitsu irmc/irmc S2, IPMI 1.5/2.0, RSA and Intel vpro for data collection and the 12

15 execution of remote activities. Trellis also leverages virtual machine management systems (VMware vsphere, Microsoft Hyper-V, etc.) to integrate virtual process within their physical host environments. Further integrations are possible though APIs that provide third-party access to the solution database, reports, data collection, automated activities and ITSM. Emerson Network Power Trellis: Inventory Manager Functionality Management of IT and facilities infrastructures are unified with the Trellis platform by combining hardware and software to collect, filter, process and analyze data from devices across the IT infrastructure. Asset records and visual imaging allows for the identification of rack and data center space availability with details on environmental status including power, thermal, humidity and weight requirements and conditions to enable informed decision making on the optimal deployment, configuration and management of data center components. Virtualization infrastructures can be manually or automatically mapped and complex IT components, such as blade servers, can be accessed to provide a centralized management platform for supporting the entire data center infrastructure, regardless of the health or status of the operating system or network connection to individual devices. Servers may be accessed via a broad range of connectivity, including serial console over IP, direct KVM, KVM over IP, single interface into RDP, service processor access and standard IP-based remote network access. 13

16 The Trellis DCIM solution provides the ability to monitor and measure energy consumption and associated costs on individual systems or across the entire IT ecosystem, simplifying power and cooling capacity planning. Energy consumption can be further reduced with automated capabilities for the graceful shutdown of systems during periods when they are not in use. Native to the Trellis platform is an interface for modeling a graphical reproduction of managed data center facilities, including detailed information on available space, power, cooling, weight, airflow, cabling and IT component status. Graphical displays provide detailed views of racks, individual IT components, or a high-level view of the entire data center infrastructure. Thousands of pre-built device representations are provided out of the box and include details such as device size, weight, power consumption, heat requirements, air flow, indicator lights and cabling ports. Custom visualizations can be created locally in the solution suite or created in third-party software (e.g. CAD) and imported into the solution. In addition to current-state models of the IT infrastructure, hypothetical models can be created to determine how additions and changes to the environment will impact power consumption, thermal conditions and space limitations before implementation. Reports can be generated on a wide variety of status indicators to ensure IT operation processes are in-line with established best practices. These include details on assets, energy consumption, regulatory compliance, usage-based metering, billing and chargeback, thermal conditions and network/port utilization. Analytics are included to dynamically determine historical trending, endpoint usage, capacity requirements and predicted environment changes. Threshold-based automation triggers can initiate alarms, alerts, and remotely deploy and executed scripts. Default thresholds and templates are pre-set with the solution, but can be manually reset by administrators to conform to established standards. Deployment and Administration To assist in the challenging project of collecting detailed information on all supported IT component across the managed infrastructure, Trellis allows asset data to be entered manually by administrators, imported from third-party packages, or automatically collected from the endpoints themselves. Automatic data collection can be performed on servers, environmental equipment (i.e. chillers), embedded server technology (i.e. Intel vpro, IPMI, etc.), networking devices, storage devices, environmental sensors, intelligent power distribution nodes, and any other IT component that is remotely accessible by the platform. Collected data center assets can be grouped in a variety of methods, such as by user role, organization, physical location, network segment, device type, level of criticality and relevant function. Each device or group of devices can be assigned as owned by a particular organization. Devices that are utilized by more than one group can be allotted a percentage of ownership, allowing accurate reports to be run on the status, performance, and cost of all assets employed by each individual business unit. Process management capabilities are also included to simplify project planning, capacity, planning, change management, contingency planning, environmental governance, compliance management and service management. Supporting features include the ability to develop step-by-step process workflows, to create project timeline visualizations with current and future state configurations and to reserve power, cooling and space resources for upcoming projects. 14

17 Maintenance customers receive access to download the latest product updates, 24x7x365 phone support, support during business hours and access to new and updated visual device representations. Emerson hosts online forums and regularly holds user conferences to continually engage customers and provide education opportunities Emerson Network Power Trellis: Energy Insight console Cost Advantage Comprehensive product sets always come at a premium cost, so it is no surprise that the unified Emerson Network Power DCIM product line reviewed in this evaluation are collectively offered at a higher cost. However, Emerson s modular approach to DCIM allows organizations to pick and choose which components are most applicable to their business, enabling more cost-effective implementations than offered by single platform competitors in environments requiring a subset of management capabilities. The Trellis pricing model achieves this by offering fixed functional pricing per component (i.e. Inventory Manager, Change Planner, Site Manager, etc.) and entitled ecosystem scaling (i.e. by device count). On other DCIM portfolio management software solutions, such as Avocent Data Center Planner, the product has a unitary functional capability so the pricing only ties to entitled ecosystem scale (i.e. the floor asset count). For DCIM portfolio hardware appliances solution components, such as the Avocent Universal Management Gateway, there is a fix model price that is related to the capabilities of the product and model configuration. By offering this modular approach, Emerson allows enterprises to scale out their DCIM solution as requirements increase and budgets become available. EMA advises organizations to review internal DCIM needs and perform independent pricing evaluations based on the unique enterprise requirements. 15

18 Vendor Strength As a subsidiary to Emerson Electric, one of the largest power equipment manufactures in in the world (in fact, number 120 on the Fortune 500), Emerson Network Power is advantaged by a stable budget, a multinational presence, and extensive channel markets. Revenue for Emerson Electric in fiscal year 2011 was reported at $24.26 billion, with $9.3 billion in equity, and a debt/equity ratio of Emerson Network Power has been a recognized leader in data center management solutions for over 15 years. Globally, Emerson Network Power has established relationships with approximately 2,000 channel partners. The Emerson Network Power Innovation Partnership Program spans IT and facilities across Avocent and Liebert business units and is supported by a dedicated channel management team. The program is comprised of four segments based on partner types and the role and value they provide customers. These include distributors, resellers, solution providers delivering value-added solutions, and contractors building or assisting in the building of data centers. Additionally, strategic alliance relationships have been developed with several major IT systems software and hardware vendors, ITSM solution providers and IT services companies, including IBM, Dell, HP, Cisco, EMC, Infosys and Oracle. The Emerson DCIM vision is to optimize infrastructure availability, efficiency and capacity to deliver significant cost savings and agility gains while ensuring high availability and SLA performance. Emerson believes this approach requires a truly open, scalable, reliable and unified platform that is holistic across IT operations and facilities management, is enabled for real time, and is capable of dynamically executing closed-loop control to drive corrective action and optimize resource utilization. The vendor s long-term strategy for advancing DCIM value is to achieve these goals while tightly aligning the solution with IT systems management, ITSM and IT as a service. Emerson s roadmap is focused on comprehensive monitoring enhancements, intelligence and insights, policy based control framework, ITIL alignment, automation, predictive modeling, analytics, as well as autonomics with mobile, social and cloud enablement. EMA DCIM Radar Award: Most Comprehensive The integrated Trellis management platform s capabilities cross all the key areas EMA has determined for comprehensive DCIM, including asset management, power management, thermal management, space management, server management, access and control, visual modeling, reporting and alarming. Of particular note is the inclusion of server access and support capabilities that are commonly not provided in DCIM platforms that primarily focus on facilities requirements. EMA believes the inclusion of resources to directly enhance the security and support processes of servers as well as those of environmental conditions is critical to creating a holistic monitoring and support infrastructure that bridges the gap between facilities management and IT operations. On this basis, EMA has determined that Emerson Network Power has provided the most comprehensive DCIM solution set for balancing both sides of the IT infrastructure management equation. 16

19 Strengths and Limitations Emerson Network Power s DCIM strengths are: Breadth of support Emerson s impressive array of data center management support is unsurpassed by any single DCIM vendor. In addition, integrations with third party solutions allow great extensibility in achieving unique enterprise IT requirements with the unified Trellis platform. Real-time infrastructure views Data collection occurs in real time allowing accurate and up-to-date holistic views of the infrastructure for prompt problem identification and remediation. Embedded technology support The ability of the Avocent Universal Management Gateway to access service processors and other embedded technology greatly expands the hardware and software management capabilities on physical servers. Virtualization support Out of the box, the Emerson DCIM solution has the ability to map virtual to physical infrastructures and leverages virtual machine management systems (vsphere, Hyper-V, etc.) to integrate virtual process within their physical host environments. Emerson Network Power s DCIM limitations are: Complex infrastructure requirements Although the Trellis platform is fully integrated, customers have indicated a reluctance to adopt the solution because of the number of individual software and hardware components that need to be implemented to achieve full DCIM capabilities. Energy provider information is not recorded The platform does not natively provide the ability to manually or automatically enter details about the energy provider, such as provider name and source of power (i.e. coal-fired, solar, wind, etc.). Carbon footprint is not calculated Organizations needing to achieve green regulatory compliance are often required to identify the actual amount of carbon emissions produced as a result of energy consumption. 17

20 About Enterprise Management Associates, Inc. Founded in 1996, Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) is a leading industry analyst firm that provides deep insight across the full spectrum of IT and data management technologies. EMA analysts leverage a unique combination of practical experience, insight into industry best practices, and in-depth knowledge of current and planned vendor solutions to help its clients achieve their goals. Learn more about EMA research, analysis, and consulting services for enterprise line of business users, IT professionals and IT vendors at or blogs.enterprisemanagement.com. You can also follow EMA on Twitter or Facebook. This report in whole or in part may not be duplicated, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or retransmitted without prior written permission of Enterprise Management Associates, Inc. All opinions and estimates herein constitute our judgement as of this date and are subject to change without notice. Product names mentioned herein may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies. EMA and Enterprise Management Associates are trademarks of Enterprise Management Associates, Inc. in the United States and other countries. EMA, ENTERPRISE MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATES, and the mobius symbol are registered trademarks or common-law trademarks of Enterprise Management Associates, Inc. Corporate Headquarters: 1995 North 57th Court, Suite 120 Boulder, CO Phone: Fax: Emerson-Summary