For years, we have been planning and waiting for the “Next Generation Data Center” where we can integrate IT and facilities systems together and manage our resources altogether more efficiently and cost effectively. And, what has emerged is data center infrastructure management (DCIM). By recent counts there are about 75 vendors, consisting of both small startups and major, well-entrenched players.
Since DCIM “as a product” came upon the scene over six years ago, Gartner’s Hype Cycle seems to have depicted precisely the way that DCIM has been perceived by potential buyers. Starting with the “Initial Peak of Inflated Expectations,” followed by the depressing “Trough of Disillusionment,” then moving upward onto the “Slope of Enlightenment,” and finally the last stage of the “Plateau of Productivity.”