“Without digital planning, stocktaking, and online management of the entire data center, it is no longer possible for IT providers to present services with high availability. Detailed information and status updates in real time are an absolute requirement,” saysAndreas Rüsseler. In this regard, R&M advocates full and continuous monitoring that covers every level of data transmission, from the connector to the application. “What use is there in monitoring the higher layers of a network if somewhere a network connector has been disconnected or inserted incorrectly and nobody has noticed?” asks Andreas Rüsseler. With reference to market statistics, R&M points out that operational errors and other such faults at the passive network infrastructure level are behind more than half of all data center failures. The company believes that this problem alone is reason enough for real-time monitoring of cabling to be introduced. Causes of damages, delays, signal losses, and high consumption data can be identified quickly online by referring to the digital profile of a process or infrastructure.
AIM is indispensable from a business perspective, too, in that it makes it possible to view and analyze the life cycle status of assets in use at any time at the click of a mouse. Digital information about the infrastructure therefore becomes a key factor in success, proving essential to long-term value creation, strategic decision-making, and agile reactions to changes on the market, according to R&M. AIM facilitates universal planning, while also simplifying organization and business processes. The CMO points out that: “These are the exact same areas identified by Capgemini as obstacles standing in the way of digitized IT organization.” Information on how to create digital profiles for network infrastructures is available in issue 51 of R&M’s specialist magazine “Connections.”
In future, virtual profiles will also be created for building infrastructures in the same way as for data centers. Building Information Modeling (BIM) allows for continuous digitalization from the architect’s initial drawing to the ongoing building management. Here, R&M has identified another growth market. Andreas Rüsseler says: “BIM makes it possible to create a virtual representation of every section of structured cabling from the serving area interface to the outlets. This provides a solid foundation for planning economically, detecting tampering immediately, simulating changes, and carrying out efficient maintenance work on the local data network.”
