Universal Intelligent Infrastructure Management (UIIM) practice is a ground-breaking approach in achieving sustainable operations in data centers

Only by harnessing universal and intelligent insights within advanced infrastructure management technologies can we get ahead of the increasing demands expected of data center owners and operators, especially when focusing on achieving data center sustainability.

The landscape of data center operations has evolved significantly, driven by a number of factors:

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• Increased compliance obligations for sustainability across the globe from the EU's Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) to the EPA Data Center Optimization Initiative in the US.
• The rising cost of designing and building facilities that are capable of fulfilling the advanced requirements of environmental targets.
• The consequential increases in operational costs.
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Added to this is the rising demand for data center capacity, especially in the face of growing artificial intelligence (AI) applications, which are highly power intensive.

Tracing back to the early origins post-WWII, data centers have transitioned from military computer rooms to being the backbone of our critical infrastructure, evolving into the modern era dominated by AI. In recent years, DCIM has undergone a complete transformation to keep up with this pace of change. Practices like UIIM (Universal Intelligent Infrastructure Management) and AIOps (Artificial Intelligence for IT Operations) from Gartner acknowledge the critical importance of automation, integration, and customization. It is vital for data center owners and operators to have a reliable and transparent unified data set that allows monitoring, collation, prediction, and comprehensive reporting of data center performance.

In addition, we believe that achieving such a comprehensive perspective is not viable through a single vendor platform alone. It is not sufficient to measure just the power or just the cooling. This is where the practice of Universal Intelligent Infrastructure Management (UIIM) comes into play - where the integration of multiple systems and data sources offers a holistic perspective.

Sustainable Operations & Sustainability Reporting Through UIIM Practices

UIIM, a fairly new methodology and framework, is geared towards providing data center owners and operators with the essential information needed for strategic and tactical decision-making. With the onset of the EU’s Energy Efficiency Directive (EED), DCIM providers must adapt their platforms to meet the needs of this guidance by November 2024.

Underpinned by the metrics detailed in the ISO/IEC 30134 series standard, its comprehensive framework of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) is measuring data center sustainability and efficiency via a range of impacts – PUE, CUE, WUE to name just a few. In essence, the eight KPIs address critical aspects of operations, including energy consumption, renewable energy usage, IT equipment effectiveness, and resource optimization.

Unlike other DCIM platforms, XpedITe is designed to be universal and intelligent, and can offer holistic Sustainability Reporting by integrating directly with physical equipment and other data sources such as Datawarehouse, BMS, EMS, Virtualization Systems, Networking Systems, and more. XpedITe is uniquely positioned to bring together legacy systems into a unified reporting platform, ensuring data center operators and owners meet compliance effortlessly.

Through these advancements, we are not just transforming DCIM but are paving the way towards a more sustainable, efficient, and future-proof data center industry.