Data centres now form the core of many businesses but finding suitable software to manage one is often not an easy task, especially when different industries have different requirements.

Capitalising on 27 years of experience in data centre management, Hong Kong's Newtech Technology Company has launched its iNAV data centre infrastructure management (DCIM) software, that caters for all companies' needs.

Since 1992, Newtech has been providing turnkey solutions for critical environments and IT infrastructure through consultancy services, design, implementation and project/system management across the Asia Pacific region.

According to a research by Global Market Insights, the global DCIM market is anticipated to surpass $3bn by 2024.

Newtech says the main drivers for the growing market are technology customisation and integration and data-driven businesses.

As a result though, facilities are getting more complicated to manage - particularly the hyperscale ones - as more and more businesses move their workloads into the cloud. To maintain efficient data workloads in data centres, while also achieving cost savings through economies of scale for these workloads, data centre operators need better management tools.

Charles Lee, the Founder and Managing Director of Newtech Technology Company said: "There are different DCIM solutions on the market but what makes iNAV stand out is not only its flexibility and the extensive coverage provided through its eight modules, but also it adapting to customers' specific needs.

“Our solution provides automatic daily, weekly and monthly reports to ensure management is up-to-date with all that is happening within their data centres."

iNAV is made up of eight modules including Asset Management, Rack Capacity, Change, Network, Energy, Power Quality, Main Plant and Environment Management. Data centre devices within each segment are showcased in a 3D format on screen for easy monitoring. And the company says comprehensive support is provided via iNAV to bridge the gap between IT and facilities management.

The combination of modules can be customised according to an individual company's needs, with iNAV also compatible with third party software to ensure a smooth transfer of data during the integration process.

The Asset Management module monitors a data centre's IT equipment through online inventory stock taking and the display of each piece of IT equipment's allocation and utilisation, including the machine's brand, model, host name and operating system. This module is also capable of providing U-Level asset management to monitor unauthorised changes through a smart rack tag.

Rack Capacity Management plans and optimises infrastructure to match the data centre's capabilities. Customers are able to view details such as rack space, power and cooling consumption of each machine through the click of a mouse.

A third main module - Change Management - fully integrates workflow management for the change of IT equipment, including creating work orders through the Submit - Approve - Action procedure. This module also enables the generation of tasks to move, add or change IT equipment automatically. And the Network Management module provides an overview of a facility's network paths and their interconnections, providing guided input to reduce human errors.

The Energy, Power Quality, Main Plant and Environment Management modules monitor the surroundings of the data centre to ensure the effective smooth-running of the facility.

iNAV also offers advanced features in addition to the basic eight modules, such as Cable Management. This module implements, manages and maintains structured cabling systems for copper, fiber-optic or coaxial-cable networks, offering detailed documentation, labelling, records, drawings, work orders, reports and other administrative support for the functioning of cable networks.

As for the wider deployment of smaller edge data centres on the DCIM market, won't they be easier to manage? Lee told Data Economy: “Our solution is aimed at facilities of all sizes. Customers are looking for intelligent software for the monitoring of smaller edge data centres to reduce operational costs, which offers huge market potential.

“It would be easier for them to manage the increasing number of edge data centres if they apply an efficient DCIM solution.”

Data Economy also asked whether there will be an effect on the DCIM market as a result of hybrid cloud deployments, in terms of monitoring on-premise private cloud infrastructure as it is integrated with public infrastructure and services? This includes the ongoing industry development of integrating hyperconverged infrastructure on-premise with public cloud services for data storage and data workloads.

In response to this, citing the various modules of iNAV, including Asset and Change Management, Lee said his firm was ready to address the industry's hybrid cloud needs in the same way that it would be doing so in the edge computing data centre space.

Headquartered in Hong Kong with offices in China, Singapore, and Vietnam, the company says it is targeting expansion in a number of countries in the Asia Pacific region, including the likes of Malaysia and Cambodia, among others. The cost of iNAV is based on the size of the data centre deployment, the number of sites and which modules are deployed. 

DCIM Video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJT9EGwuGxE

DCIM Booklet: http://www.newtechapac.com/assets/documents/publications/DCIM_Booklet.pdf