In January 2014, FieldView Solutions described data center infrastructure management (DCIM) as five distinct capability areas: monitoring, IT asset management, temperature control, cable management, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation. The point was not that one product had to do everything; it was that organizations could combine specialist tools, provided those tools integrated. This is a historical snapshot of how the market was being framed then—not a current map of DCIM vendors.
What were the five areas of DCIM in 2014?
In a January 13, 2014, Data Center Knowledge article by Jason Verge, Sev Onyshkevych, then FieldView Solutions’ chief marketing officer, identified five basic DCIM areas. The taxonomy is useful for understanding the article’s argument, but it was a vendor executive’s description, not a standard established by a standards body or regulator.
| Capability area | What it covers in the article’s framing | 2014 example cited by the article |
|---|---|---|
| Monitoring | Observing facility conditions and operational data, including temperature and power. | FieldView Solutions |
| IT asset management | Tracking and managing IT equipment as assets in the data center. | Nlyte |
| Thermal or dynamic temperature control | Managing cooling and temperature dynamically. | Vigilent |
| Cable management | Managing cabling and its relationship to equipment and infrastructure. | iTRACS |
| Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation | Modeling airflow and thermal behavior through simulation. | Future Facilities |
The vendor associations in the table are examples reported in 2014, not present-day rankings or claims about current products. Onyshkevych summarized the taxonomy this way: “Now it’s pretty clear that the basic part of DCIM is about five things: monitoring, IT asset management, thermal/dynamic control of temperatures, cable management, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation.”
Why did the taxonomy matter?
The article presented DCIM as a field where specialized products were becoming more visible than a promise that one tool could meet every need. Onyshkevych said, “We’re past the frenzied hype part, and people are looking at DCIM in a much more sober, pragmatic fashion.” That was his characterization of the market in 2014, rather than an independent measurement of industry consensus.
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For a buyer, the categories clarify that “DCIM” can refer to different jobs: monitoring conditions, managing IT assets, controlling cooling, organizing cable, or simulating airflow. A product associated with one area should not be assumed to cover all the others. The taxonomy is a way to identify capability boundaries, not proof that any particular deployment requires five separate products.
How did specialist DCIM tools work together?
Integration was central to FieldView’s argument. The article describes its API as a way to direct users to temperature information, capacity-planning data, and historical data, and says customers were asking vendors to connect their products. In that view, APIs and integrations let organizations assemble a best-of-breed system from tools focused on different capabilities.
Onyshkevych contrasted this with the “Swiss Army knife” approach: “The alternative to a ‘Swiss Army knife’ is integrating best of breed.” This is a vendor’s 2014 position, not a neutral comparison proving that integrated specialists outperform a broader platform. In practical terms, the choice depends on whether the tools exchange the data and workflows the organization needs; the article does not provide a product-scoring method or current interoperability results.
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How does colocation change DCIM responsibilities?
The article’s colocation example separates the work of a facility operator from that of a tenant. Operators oversee the data center facilities, while tenants are responsible for their IT assets and may need visibility into temperature and power. A tenant can also have relationships with multiple providers, making the operational picture span more than one site or operator.
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What scale did FieldView report in 2014?
Data Center Knowledge reported that FieldView monitored 2.5 gigawatts of data center space across six continents. The article also reported that FieldView served 12 of the top 25 multi-tenant data center providers and had 19 global channel partner organizations. These are figures attributed to FieldView in the 2014 article; it did not provide the underlying customer list or methodology for the top-25 claim.
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The same article reported more than 70 DCIM vendors in the marketplace at the time. That count describes the market as reported in January 2014 and should not be treated as a current vendor total.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to use this taxonomy when comparing DCIM approaches
- Identify the capability: Determine whether the need is monitoring, asset management, cooling control, cable management, CFD simulation, or a combination.
- Check integration needs: Establish which information and workflows must pass between tools, and whether API support addresses them.
- Map responsibility: In a multi-tenant environment, clarify what the operator manages and what each tenant owns.
- Account for deployment scope: A single enterprise site and a colocation environment with several providers can create different visibility and coordination requirements.
The 2014 taxonomy is most useful as a vocabulary for separating these concerns. It does not establish which vendors lead today, how current products compare, or whether an organization should buy a suite or assemble integrated specialists.
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