A system with scalable data collection for system management comprises a plurality of local data collectors and a system collector. Each of the local data collectors is coupled with a corresponding subsystem of the system. Each of the local data collectors is configured to periodically collect power management related data from the corresponding subsystem, and to format the collected power management related data for conveyance along any one of a plurality of channels between the local data collector and the system collector. The system collector is coupled with the plurality of local data collectors via the plurality of channels. The system collector selects from the channels between the system collector and each of the local data collectors based, at least in part, on channel states, and retrieves the power management related data collected by each of the local data collectors along a selected channel for the local data collector.