Adding, moving, decommissioning and renaming devices in the data center should be a simple process. But in today’s complex data centers, these tasks have become something of a high-wire act, fraught with inefficiency and risk.
Trends like virtualization are only compounding the difficulty. In these dense environments, add a server at the wrong place and the result can be an overloaded power grid with a lot of unplanned downtime.
One of the ways that data centers have chosen to reduce risk and inefficiency is to improve their strategic planning capabilities using data center infrastructure management (DCIM) solutions to help them understand the total environment, effectively predict and plan capacity needs and cut energy consumption and costs.
THE ESSENTIAL CONNECTION BETWEEN PLANNING AND EXECUTION
Planning and analysis can only go so far when it comes to managing the data center on a day-to-day basis. Without clear and consistent processes for completing the frequent tasks of adding, moving, decommissioning and renaming devices, it’s easy for things to go wrong. For many organizations, the only way to manage these processes is either through cumbersome, error-prone spreadsheets or via standalone workflow management solutions.
Automated, intelligent workflow management systems used by business units are highly applicable to IT and facilities organizations. They can be used to define, execute and enforce best practices, and they can help data centers monitor, analyze and fine-tune processes to continuously increase efficiency and decrease risk. However, there are four important requirements to keep in mind when considering a workflow management solution for your data center.
USE BEST PRACTICE WORKFLOWS THAT MATCH YOUR OPERATIONS
The starting point is doing it right. Your workflow solution should provide a set of process models that reflect best practices for installing, moving, decommissioning and renaming devices. Predefined workflow models also need to be flexible so that they can reflect the specific needs and working methods of your organization. Solutions that force you to do business only one way will quickly become unworkable. Look for solutions that provide configurable templates and forms with an easy-to-use graphical interface for modeling and changing complex processes. These solutions should include simulating execution without actually putting the process into production. Both process designers and users, under controlled conditions, should be able to make modifications. For example, a designer may want to add tabs to a form to eliminate scrolling, or a user may want to add a field to capture unique information for a process, such as contact information.
Predefined models can quickly improve the consistency of data center processes. For example, they can support:
• Complex multistage approval processes
• Control over participants, timing and compliance with governing policies
• Time frame predictions for completing a process
SUPPORT THE PROCESS FROM START TO FINISH
An essential requirement is the ability to manage every task in a data center workflow process. This requires end-to-end process models. For example:
REPORT ON THE BIG AND SMALL PICTURE
Another key ingredient is robust reporting on planned, active and completed projects that are presented via a visual dashboard. The workflow solution should offer a set of predefined reports that can be easily modified to suit the needs of different users. For example, reporting features should provide management overall status views of a project, process or group as well as more detailed drill-downs, such as insight into a particular stage in a process or an individual’s performance within a process. Participants in a process should be able to run reports specific to their activities in the workflow.
FULLY INTEGRATE PLANNING AND EXECUTION
A workflow management solution can go a long way to helping data centers increase their efficiency and reduce the risks associated with adding, moving, decommissioning and renaming devices. But to maximize the value of your investment in such a solution, the workflow needs to be fully—and transparently— integrated with your DCIM solution. When you couple the ability to capture and execute workflow processes with the capabilities of DCIM solution, you can optimize your ability to increase efficiency and reduce risk.
It is very important that workflow integrates with the DCIM inventory and change management functions so that you can accurately determine and control the impact of modifications before committing to such changes. Changes in the status of an executing process, such as an event or message that has changed the workflow, should immediately update the DCIM solution.
This type of close interaction between the workflow and your DCIM solution means that the single source of inventory data is always up-to-date and that locating equipment, managing floor and zone space and modeling to understand the impact of changes are always done with the most accurate and reliable information possible.
Emerson Network Power delivers the Trellis™ platform, a complete DCIM solution with integrated workflow that can help you substantially maximize the efficiency of your data center while reducing risk.
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Source: http://www.emersonnetworkpower.com/en-US/sites/DCIM/Documents/0214-KEYSTRAT-OP-EN.pdf