Overall, a data center is a combination of the total infrastructure required to house, transmit, or process data in a facility as well as the team of employees associated with it. Data center infrastructure management (DCIM) is the combination of installation, maintenance, and business best practices associated with the operations of that facility.

Installation of a data center is a non-trivial process that involves the thorough planning of the physical layout of the space, the internal infrastructure, and both present and future facility capacity. This involves working with external stakeholders to organize the power, thermal, and network capabilities. It also encompasses working out how the data center will support the solely owned/operated hardware or rack components owned by other tenants.