Here is where I disagree -you cannot use Freeware to do this job as it has no continuity if in fact it is free, Welfare is free and look where that gets us. The ROI in using this technology is well known, if done correctly the ROI is less than 8 months and payback comes in the form of cost reductions to operations rather than waiting for the app to kick in. It has been documented that used effectively IT Asset Management can save the business 8 – 15 % of annual IT budget in the 1st year. The best package is the one that is improved as technology changes and who would do that for free?

Enterprise Asset Management is the fastest methodology to getting the DC catalogued and running efficiently. It is also the low hanging fruit. RFID contributes to this process but on its own provide little in the way of useable and actionable data. As far as location is concerned RFID is lacking, a better solution should come from the rack itself.

The best solution is the one enabling all other Infrastructure solutions with the data collected. One that is agnostic to hardware platforms and operating systems and can create a valid parent child relationship and can trend and expose security and energy anomalies. A DCIM solution without this functionality will entail a great deal of heavy lifting before it reaches a valid state, and then there are the day to day changes from that point forward.
Finally, while the DC is the primary focus, the solution and processes of Enterprise Asset Management should not be isolated to working only in the DC. The solution selected should work across the entire IT landscape in any enterprise large and small, but that is a discussion for another day.