BlogData centres
DCIM: what to monitor in a data centre
By Vicky Ogola, Senior ICT Consultant 1 min read
Data centre infrastructure management brings power, cooling, environment and capacity into one view.
DCIM tools monitor the physical infrastructure that IT depends on.
Power
UPS status, battery health, load per rack and circuit, generator readiness.
Environment
Temperature and humidity at rack intakes, water leaks, door status.
Cooling
Cooling unit status, supply and return temperatures.
Capacity
Space, power and cooling headroom — to plan growth before limits are reached.
Alerts
Route alerts to the right people with clear thresholds, and test them.
AI-assisted analysis
Trend analysis can highlight gradual changes such as rising temperatures or battery degradation.
Integrate with operations
DCIM is most useful when its alerts feed the same ticketing and on-call process as other IT alerts, and when its capacity data is used in planning meetings. Keep the asset information in it current, or it quickly loses value.
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About the author
Vicky Ogola
Senior ICT Consultant
Vicky Ogola writes about network design, connectivity, data centres and the infrastructure that business systems depend on.