Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) Market Trends

Growth Drivers

• Sustainability and energy efficiency requirements: Data centers from all over the world are facing growing pressure to meet the energy efficiency threshold and goals related to sustainability. According to the International Energy Agency, data centers use about 1% of the total global demand for electricity in 2022. However, consumption is expected to surge immensely due to increased demand for digital services. As a result, the DCIM market is poised to grow as companies seek solutions that can streamline energy management and minimize their carbon footprint.

• Emerging trends in IoT and edge computing: With the increased use of edge computing and IoT in enterprises continuously growing, there is a developing need for DCIM solutions that will support such technologies. In this respect, IoT devices and edge infrastructures are using DCIM platforms to manage huge volumes of data with respected operational efficiency and connectivity. In September 2023, Modius Inc. announced AI capabilities for the OpenData platform to recognize typical behavior in the data center and extend IoT integration, further reinforcing its capacity to support edge computing applications.

• Increasing needs for regulatory compliance: Governments across the globe are prompting further regulations around data center energy consumption. In February 2024, Schneider Electric partnered with ASPEED Technology to develop a smart visual management solution for data centers, enabling facilities to meet compliance standards through enhanced real-time monitoring and operational oversight. This trend will continue to shape the data center infrastructure management market as data centers adopt these solutions to address constantly changing regulations.

Challenges

• Increasing cyber threats: As these data centers get connected, the chances of a cyberattack on such infrastructure have increased. This has highlighted cybersecurity as one of the key issues, and with that concern, the vendors of DCIM ensure that their offerings are prevented from any foreseen risk. Initiatives to counter this have also been launched by governments around the globe, including the U.S. Department of Energy's 2022 report, which is developing robust cybersecurity measures for energy management and data management. This focus has increased the demand for secure DCIM solutions that protect data center operations from cyber threats.

• Energy consumption and sustainability regulations: There is growing scrutiny of energy consumption in data centers as global sustainability goals become more mainstream. Due to outdated infrastructure and high demand for operations, many data centers are not well-positioned to operate within regulations that demand a reduction in energy usage.