Management software vendor Power Assure has claimed to have solved the problems of data center infrastructure management (DCIM) systems that make them unworkable.

Its new Power Assure EM/5 systems simplify infrastructure management so much that the wait for a return on investment could be cut from half a year to half an hour, it claimed.

The new system also includes an Aggregation feature – which collects metrics from any source – and a Smartphone app – that allows operators to scan an asset tag barcode and get an instant overview of the device.

DCIM systems have failed to deliver on their promise of million dollars savings because they are too cumbersome, said Power Assure’s CEO Pete Malcolm.

“They’re too complicated, too expensive to install and too time consuming,” Malcolm said.

Power Assure claimed it has researched the problems experienced by DCIM users and set about eliminating them through new features in its EM/5 system.

One of the main advantages of the new system is that it gives one view on all the information about IT and operations.

“There’s too much duplication of effort at the moment,” said Malcolm, “most managers said they needed a new dashboard like they need a hole in the head.”

According to Power Assure, a typical one megawatt data center will cost around US$1 million a year in power bills.

On average around 25% of the servers within an IT infrastructure are redundant, but cannot be taken out as the underperforming assets cannot be identified.

A DCIM system – costing $50-100,000 – could identify the ‘zombie servers’ but they have not delivered on their promise because the process of physically identifying and tagging assets is too laborious, said Malcolm.

Power Assure claimed to have automated these tasks.

The EM/5 system, being compatible with other DCIM systems, will enable all DCIM users to simplify the installation, measurement and management of their infrastructure management, claimed Malcolm.

The Power Assure system, it announced, is now certified as integrated with ServiceNow’s Ultimate DCIM Solution and will be sold through its channel.

“Nobody does measurement like us,” said Malcolm, “but now we’re making this a module that anybody can integrate into their own systems.”

The system is primarily aimed at IT infrastructure and asset managers, said Malcolm, but its ability to monitor any hardware – from power supplies to cooling systems – means this will be an operational tool too.