2015 Data Center 100: 20 Data Center Tool Providers
Center 100: 20 Data Center Tool Providers
While it is the hardware and software infrastructure that provide a base on which data centers are built, it is a host of tools that provide the keys to making data centers run efficiently and serve both internal and external customers.
Some tools monitor data center functions to ensure cooling, power consumption, and other operations are in line with expectations. Other tools warn of potential problems and may offer recommendations to fix those problems or, increasingly, automatically make the required fixes.
While data center infrastructure management, or DCIM, software is among the most common tools available for running data centers, its complexity can be daunting for some customers. However, the industry offers a wide range of simpler technologies that also do an excellent job of monitoring and managing data centers, making this a great business area for solution providers.
Here are the data center tool providers to make this year's Data Center 100 list.
1E
New York
Nick Milne-Home
President, COO, North America
1E helps improve data center operations with technology to identify and eliminate unused IT equipment and software licenses, with a focus on Windows migration. Its solutions help measure, monitor and increase server efficiency; manage PC power use; and reclaim and recycle software licenses.
BMC Software
Houston
Robert Beauchamp
President, Chairman, CEO
Since going private in 2013 in a $6.9 billion deal, BMC has been expanding its ability to simplify and automate IT processes, business services, and applications to the cloud with new partnerships with Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, and significantly expanded its mainframe management solutions.
CA Technologies
New York
Mike Gregoire
CEO
CA continues to develop IT management software and solutions for customers across mainframe and physical to virtual and cloud environments, but not for storage anymore since its 2014 decision to spin its storage business out in a separate company with the Arcserve moniker.
CommScope/iTracs
Hickory, N.C.
Marvin (Eddie) Edwards
President, CEO
CommScope, which became a major data center business player thanks to acquisitions in 2013 of DCIM developer iTracs and LED lighting and sensor network developer Redwood Systems, used 2014 to expand its DCIM offerings and introduced its modular DataCenter On Demand solution.
Device42
New Haven, Conn.
Raj Jalan
Founder, CEO
Device42 looks to solve data center management issues with software to automatically provide up-to-date configuration and resource information, find and document issues, manage risks, centralize security, and do autodiscovery all via a REST API.
eG Innovations
Iselin, N.J.
Srinivas Ramanathan
President, CEO
eG Innovations' intelligent performance management solutions help find and resolve service performance issues in virtual, cloud and physical infrastructures. The company in 2014 introduced a unified Citrix Xen performance management dashboard for Citrix as well as end-to-end performance management for Oracle Linux and Oracle VM.
Geist
Lincoln, Neb.
Matt Lane
President, DCIM Division
Geist manufactures intelligent hardware and software for data center power, cooling, monitoring and management. The company's solutions include designing efficient cooling systems and end-to-end DCIM integration via its Environet DCIM solution. Geist last year also declared support for Open Compute and Open CloudServer.
Kaseya/Zyrion
Boston
Yogesh Gupta
President, CEO
Kaseya provides both centralized and remote management and policy-based automation of data center resources for MSPs. The company in 2014 introduced two major releases of its management software, and added a new security focus with the acquisition of security and authentication software developer Scorpion Software.
Modius
San Francisco
Craig Compiano
President, CEO
Modius' OpenData DCIM software includes solutions to monitor, analyze and manage a data center's mechanical electrical plant, rack, cooling, power distribution and server infrastructure. OpenData was expanded in 2014 with an Asset Management Module to collect data specific to each asset across multiple facilities.
Nlyte Software
San Mateo, Calif.
Doug Sabella
President, CEO
Nlyte Software put a big emphasis on SaaS in virtualized environments and on IT service management capabilities with its DCIM software in 2014. A new framework for its DCIM software includes ITSM connectors for popular third-party applications to quickly update management capabilities.
Onset Computer
Bourne, Mass.
Justin Testa
President
Data logger supplier Onset Computer, whose flagship line of battery-powered HOBO data logger products measure and record data center temperature, humidity, light, energy and other parameters, expanded its line in 2014 with new low-cost water level loggers and new plug load data loggers.
Panduit
Tinley Park, Ill.
Tom Donovan
President
Panduit, whose Unified Physical Infrastructure solutions integrate segregated data centers systems such as communications, computing, control, power and security into a single unified infrastructure, added wireless monitoring and cooling optimization technologies to its line with the 2014 acquisition of SynapSense.
Rackwise
Folsom, Calif.
Guy Archbold
Chairman, President, CEO
Rackwise's DCIM X Solutions, a DCIM application for managing data center components such as power, cooling, space, servers, networks and cables, in 2014 got a boost in federal data centers thanks to a new Unisys relationship. The company in 2014 also closed a $3 million funding round.
Raritan
Somerset, N.J.
Ching-I Hsu
Founder, CEO
Raritan's solutions for improving data center efficiency with power management, infrastructure management, KVM, DCIM and other intelligent applications, grew in 2014 with the ability to apply DCIM to monitor data center white spaces and critical facilities systems and new interactive data center maps.
RF Code
Austin, Texas
Ed Healy
CEO
RF Code develops active RFID hardware and management software to provide accurate and actionable information about the location and state of physical data center assets to help in decision making. Its RFID sensors can be stand-alone or integrated in other equipment.
Sentilla
Redwood City, Calif.
Mike Kaul
CEO
Sentilla uses a ’manager of managers’ approach to provide granular insight into all physical and virtual IT systems and facilities to combine continuous performance analysis with cost management and allow data centers to do capacity management and plannnig, all with no meters or agents.
SevOne
Wilmington, Del.
Jack Sweeney
CEO
SevOne builds scalable appliances that monitor the performance of networks, applications, servers and storage, and can present the results from billions of performance metrics per day on a unified console. The company's technology monitors more than 100 million objects worldwide.
Sightline Systems
Fairfax, Va.
Brandon Witte
President, CEO
Sightline's technology uses analytics, root-cause analysis and correlation of data from multiple sources including IT systems, applications, and storage to provide real-time operations intelligence for data center users to over comprehensive insights into computer systems and their interdependencies.
TSO Logic
Vancouver, B.C.
Aaron Rallo
Founder, CEO
TSO Logic targets data center power costs with a lightweight, application-aware power management software which sits on a single server. The company in 2014 unveiled a new widget-style dashboard to provide detailed insight into application performance, power use and operating costs.
Viligent
Oakland, Calif.
Dave Hudson
CEO
Vigilent's intelligent energy management systems for data centers was recently enhanced with a new active cooling capacity planning module for the Vigilent DCIM Toolkit that provides information, room by room or data center-wide, on available and stranded cooling capacity. Vigilent partners with companies like Electric Environments and Schneider Electric on dynamic cooling technology.