Integrated Management Software for Data Center Managers Breaks Down Barriers between IT and Facilities

Dubai-UAE: 03 July, 2011 - Schneider Electric, a global specialist in energy management, today introduced StruxureWare™ for Data Centers, a management software suite designed to maximize availability and efficiency of the data center's physical infrastructure. 

StruxureWare for Data Centers combines the software tools of Schneider Electric's market leading Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) and Data Center Facility Management (DCFM) to provide data gathering, monitoring, automation, planning and implementation functionalities for enabling an integrated and multifaceted view of mission-critical physical systems of the data center. The new offering empowers data center managers with access to data and tools needed for operation that are more reliable, efficient, productive, secure and green.

Kevin Brown, Vice President, Data Center Global Offer and Strategy, Schneider Electric, said: "Data center environments traditionally rely on siloed management tools using specialized knowledge and experience of numerous IT and facility professionals to leverage dedicated management dashboards and obtain the required information. 

"With StruxureWare for Data Centers, Schneider Electric is providing a toolset, which allows data center managers to access and manage across the domains of the IT room, building electrical power, power quality, facility and data center cooling and physical security.  This management software suite delivers comprehensive, accurate and real-time data enabling them to take action based on the complete picture of the data center."

The StruxureWare for Data Centers management software suite offers a variety of software tools to improve both the monitoring and the operational aspects of data center management, including:

StruxureWare for Data Centers: Monitoring Suite

The StruxureWare for Data Centers Monitoring Suite offers a series of core and advanced options for real-time visualization, notification and reporting of the physical facility and data center systems for electrical power, cooling, security and IT infrastructure elements.

The monitoring suite includes:

  • StruxureWare Central (formerly InfraStruxure Central) - A fundamental, vendor-neutral software system that provides a unified view and analysis of complex IT physical infrastructure that communicates with building, power, enterprise and network management systems to ensure quality, and increase both energy and cost efficiencies. The new StruxureWare Central for Blackberry and iPhone apps, available today, provides data center managers with the same active alarms, alarm history, device groups and current sensor values found in the StruxureWare Central desktop user interface without being tied to a computer screen.

  • StruxureWare Power and StruxureWare Cooling - These advanced options build on Schneider Electric's existing innovative and industry leading power monitoring (formerly ION Enterprise) and cooling automation (formerly Continuum) offers by adapting them to the specific and unique applications within data centers.

    • StruxureWare Power monitors the facility and data center electrical infrastructure from the utility feed through to rack power. Core functions of this system include profiling power and energy consumption trends, characterizing power quality events, and visually drill down from the overall view of the electrical network to the equipment level.

    • StruxureWare Cooling monitors and automates the fully integrated environmental control system for the core facility including the thermal energy plant with specialized monitoring of the data center chilled water sub-system, including cooling towers, chillers, pumps, and computer room and rack air handlers. Optional elements also include a focus on general access control, and surveillance.

StruxureWare for Data Centers: Operations Suite

StruxureWare Operations Suite is a second generation Data Center Infrastructure Management framework enabling customers to gain control of their day-to-day operations where capacity limitations, frequent changes and availability are daily challenges for data center managers. 

  • StruxureWare Operations is the industry leading enterprise DCIM framework providing a scalable and fault tolerant solution encompassing all aspects of modern data center management, including asset and capacity control over dashboards and smart phone integration. The framework provides the ability to forecast future budgets for expanding and consolidating data center operations as well as the impact these changes would have on various aspects of the facility. Through transparency into data center key performance indicators (KPIs), customers are assisted in making informed decisions about service level agreements and controlling operational costs. 

StruxureWare for Data Centers provides users with multiple options to create and share a variety of management dashboards. These range from very detailed, domain specific dashboards for electrical power and cooling to higher level perspectives relevant to overall data center and single site energy management.  Additionally, the dashboards offer multi-site options to support comparisons and corporate energy governance activities.

StruxureWare for Data Centers serves as one facet of Schneider Electric's global StruxureWare initiative.  The complete line of StruxureWare solutions are designed to provide an integrated software platform intended to simplify energy management and optimize energy usage in all types of buildings, data centers and industrial facilities. StruxureWare is the software backbone that connects Schneider Electric's comprehensive EcoStruxure™ energy management architecture portfolio. From a single point of access, it provides intelligent monitoring, automation, planning and reporting on critical facility management systems.

Available globally, the first offering available from the StruxureWare for Data Centers suite is StruxureWare Central v6.3 and StruxureWare Central Mobile Application for iPhone and Blackberry. Other components of the StruxureWare for Data Centers' software suite will be announced throughout 2011, featuring continually evolving solutions to meet the needs of all data center and facility professionals. All new offerings and updates within the StruxureWare for Data Centers' portfolio continue to be compatible with existing components of the InfraStruxure Management Software portfolio.

For more information about APC and other money-saving home and office solutions, please contact + 971 4 7099 690/691, or visit www.apc.com.

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About Schneider Electric
As a global specialist in energy management with operations in more than 100 countries, Schneider Electric offers integrated solutions across multiple market segments, including leadership positions in energy and infrastructure, industrial processes, building automation, and data centers/networks, as well as a broad presence in residential applications. Focused on making energy safe, reliable, and efficient, the company's 110,000 plus employees achieved sales of 19.6 billion euros in 2010, through an active commitment to help individuals and organizations "Make the most of their energy."

www.schneider‑electric.com

About APC by Schneider Electric
APC by Schneider Electric, a global leader in critical power and cooling services, provides industry leading product, software and systems for home, office, data center and factory floor applications. Through its unparalleled commitment to innovation, APC provides pioneering, energy efficient solutions for critical technology and industrial applications that are well planned, flawlessly installed and maintained throughout their lifecycle. APC solutions include uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), precision cooling units, racks, physical security and design and management software, including APC's InfraStruxure® architecture, the industry's most comprehensive integrated power, cooling, and management solution.

For further information, please call:
APC by Schneider Electric
Sakina Tazun
Tel: +971 4 7099 624 
Email: sakina.tazun@schneider-electric.com

Jiwin Public Relations
An APCO Worldwide Company
Ajith Henry
Tel: +971 4 368 8001
Email: ahenry@apcoworldwide.com

© Press Release 2011