– Jay Letendre, vice president of Business Development at AlphaPoint Technology (www.alphapointtech.com), says:
AssetCentral useful in today’s enterprise data centers.
AlphaPoint’s AssetCentralTM platform offers easy IT Asset Management in today’s complex Data Centers by providing un-matched visualization of where assets are located in a web-based easy to navigate interface. People are visual in nature and AssetCentralTM capitalizes on that by enabling real-time modeling and mapping of a company’s IT infrastructure. In addition to its unique visual capabilities, AssetCentralTM is built with an open architecture thereby ensuring that clients can continue to leverage their existing IT investments. This open architecture allows for AssetCentralTM to integrate with other ITAM and DCIM tools and platforms that might already be in use in a client’s environment.
The benefit for data center and IT managers.
AlphaPoint has found that its customers like the visualization and ease of use of AssetCentralTM. In addition, especially in these challenging economic times, the price-point for AssetCentralTM also aligns appropriately.
AssetCentral provides critical business benefits when it comes to managing Data Center assets:
1. Do I know where this equipment is?
2. Do I know what it is doing?
3. Am I getting the most from my investments?
4. Where can I put this equipment? Do I have Space? Power?
Once a user or any number of unlimited users log in from any web-enabled device or workstation these questions are answered in AssetCentralTM simple and intuitive interface. Consolidated up-to-date asset information is displayed in AssetCentralTM providing the user the ability to have current information at his fingertips in order to make important decisions.
In addition, a Data Center will see an immediate benefit from migrating to AssetCentralTM from complex, hard to maintain asset lists stored in spreadsheets or other types of documents.
“It’s your Data Center”
AssetCentral also enables client-side customization with the ability to add “Dynamic Asset Information Fields” that are important to you and your organization.
A priority.
Maintaining a Data Center is a complex effort that needs to be agile enough to meet the demands of a variety of users; from employees to business partners to clients. A solution like AssetCentralTM easily ranks in the top three of priorities within a Data Center. Some of the costly challenges that organizations face in their DCIM/ITAM practices are:
1. Keeping an accurate and current asset inventory needed for procurement decisions as well as audits (be they government, regulatory or others).
2. Quickly “visually” locating assets in order to manage them.
3. Determining the free rack space and power availability available to deploy newly procured assets or rearrange existing assets.
4. What are the biggest challenges for data center and IT managers when it comes to AssetCentralTM?
Some of the biggest challenges faced by clients prior to AssetCentralTM being chosen as a solution are:
1. Complex asset lists and databases that are difficult to keep updated and accessible to multiple users
2. Not having an asset inventory solution in place at all
3. Tired of the complexity, overpriced and underused features included in some of the other DCIM/ITAM solutions
4. Zero or very little support when it comes to integrating with existing or new software purchases
Overcoming challenges.
Data Center and IT Managers need to think about what it is that they are looking to achieve on a daily basis. If they use a solution every day, all day, chances are they are going to stay away from complexity. Also, if possible, chose a solution that can integrate with the tools already used in their organization. This will allow them to keep previous software purchases as well as keep the learning curve low. With respect to complex asset lists or not having anything at all, choose a solution that allows ubiquitous web-based access the will enable the asset database to be updated and kept up-to-date.
DCIM and ITAM are very complex processes and very few solutions address every aspect. Therefore, focus on those must-have needs. Think of the following in making your decision:
1. Ease of Use. Can the solution be configured to the way your users work today?
2. Reporting. Can the solution provide the reports needed to run your Data Center and inform key stakeholders?
3. Integration. Can the solution integrate with other solutions you’ve already invested in?
4. Licensing. Is the licensing model easy? Is it flexible enough to meet your needs as your organization changes from month-to-month or year-to-year?
