Data Centers

RFID in Data Centers

Solving the Asset Management Challenge

The extreme inventory challenges that accompany data center operations present the issues of increased liabilities and higher than average inventory costs. Data companies are looking to increase efficiency of IT inventory and asset management processes and are relying on the advantages of RFID tracking.

When corporate data is involved, the potential loss of sensitive information housed in data center assets puts organizations at serious security and regulatory risk.

Historically, tracking and monitoring IT assets has been limited to the use of barcode and human-readable tags. As a result, this required labor-intensive physical inventory processes for asset tracking that is both inefficient and prone to errors and omissions. RFID tagging is quickly becoming the most effective and cost-efficient solution for data center asset management.

The Benefits of Passive RFID

• RFID solutions developed for data center delivers the following benefits:
• Improved asset visibility
• More streamlined and accurate inventory management
• Greater compliance to financial and accounting requirements

• Reduced number of lost/missing IT assets
• Asset management team returns more value to the organization
• Short return-on-investment cycle
• Improved service level agreement (SLA) management through improved maintainability of IT assets

Inventory Efficiency ROI

Inventory efficiency has been the most significant benefit achieved by the use of RFID in the asset tracking system. Overall, the data centers can realize up to a 15x improvement in the speed of inventory.

Scheduled Maintenance

Whether a hard drive requires regularly scheduled maintenance or is due to be retired, IT personnel armed with a handheld RFID reader can locate the right drive in minutes.

Bundled Passive RFID Solutions include IT Asset Tracking and Lifecycle Management

Technology Agnostic, Unsurpassed Connectivity and Flexibility
Combine multiple technologies from multiple vendors in a single application. Receive out of the box connectivity to an endless variety of RFID (Passive, Active, etc.), Barcode, GPS, Temp/Environmental Sensors, and Mobile devices. Seamless integration to ERP (SAP IBM, ORACLE), WMA and other back-end systems.

Best-in-Class RFID and Sensor-Driven Software
Patented, cutting edge RFID READY software platform and templates allow users to rapidly configure and deploy RFID, barcode and sensor-driven asset tracking applications. Software includes hundreds of pre-defined workflows, utilities and commissioning tools and a Web 2.0 drag-and-drop paradigm that enables rapid incorporation of business logic and process and visual media such as floor plans.

Complete, Packaged IT Asset Lifecycle Management Application
Pre-Built templates for IT Asset Tracking and Lifecycle management include defined process flows for tag commissioning, check in, check out, asset maintenance, asset audit and searches, and end-of-life decommissioning.

Mobile Application Development and Support
RFID READY fully supports Mobile application development and web-based commissioning for handheld operations where gathering data in the field is crucial. Handheld audits, asset searches and tag commissioning can all be performed using a handheld.

Enterprise-Ready Solution - Scale with Ease across Locations, Users, and Devices
Organizational and administration modules allows operators to easily enable locations, set up permissions and share specified data based on need, instance and authorization. Over-the-web application commissioning to multiple locations speeds up deployment and simplifies scaling across global enterprises.

Real Time Tracking

RFID can enable real-time tracking of servers, tape media, hard drives, laptops and other IT assets without any human intervention — regardless of whether they are on the move, installed in racks or stored in cabinets and on shelves

Quick & Efficient Inventory Audits

Using an RFID handheld reader in remote locations, in just seconds, IT can take inventory of hundreds of assets including data media.