Contact: Rhonda Ascierto, Tejas Venkatesh
The niche datacenter infrastructure management (DCIM) software sector is small, but is expected to grow quickly. It hasn’t yet yielded much in the way of M&A, but that could change as there are several potential acquirers that have an interest in this growing market. However, partnerships are likely to be the preferred means of growth for large DCIM vendors.
DCIM helps managers track and analyze information about their datacenters’ operational status, assets and resource use (space, power, cooling, etc.) So far, there have only been a handful of acquisitions because large DCIM suppliers have managed to rapidly develop capabilities organically. But big IT and systems software companies that have remained on the sidelines to date may make strategic moves into the DCIM market.
In contrast, large DCIM providers are likely to choose partnerships as their preferred route to growth. We expect many partnerships by leading DCIM suppliers to round out their offerings, since no single DCIM product offers all features. Market leader Emerson Network Power, for instance, has already led the way in partnering by announcing significant partnerships with IBM and Joyent. We’ll take a closer look at this emerging sector, including potential acquirers and market-size forecasts, in a forthcoming report. This week, we also have our annual Uptime Institute Symposium , which will highlight the rapid changes in the datacenter industry.
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