WEST KINGSTON, R.I. – Schneider Electric, a global specialist in energy management, today announced the Advantage Max Data Center Health Check, a service contract option to help small- and medium-sized data centers maximize uptime and performance while reducing operations costs. Based on Schneider Electric’s industry-leading StruxureWare™ for Data Centers data center infrastructure management (DCIM) software, this service enhancement is specifically designed to address power, cooling, and room layout inefficiencies while minimizing downtime risk. By utilizing this platform, Schneider Electric can produce assessments that would have previously cost three to four times more for the same report.   

“Schneider Electric is capitalizing on our existing strength in the DCIM space to help small- and medium-sized data centers and IT rooms access the same technology being utilized by some of the largest enterprise data centers globally. The goal is to provide a very cost effective way to analyze this space, which is experiencing increasingly high demands for availability, lower tolerance for downtime and the need to manage resources more effectively,” says Lance Bishop, Director, Professional Services, Schneider Electric. “This option to our Advantage Plus, Prime, and Ultra Service Contracts better positions managers to optimize overall data center operational efficiency, performance, and cost.”

Even with a smaller footprint, small- to medium-sized data centers bear business-critical responsibility in today’s increasingly digitized world. When combined with expanding workloads, evolving technologies, aging facilities, and increasing environmental regulations, SMB data center managers encounter challenges such as limited floor space, inefficient power and cooling infrastructure, and rising operations cost similar to their enterprise counterparts. These challenges are often compounded under even stricter budget constraints.

Leveraging Schneider Electric’s StruxureWare for Data Centers DCIM software, Advantage Max Data Center Health Check is designed specifically for data centers and IT rooms of up to 5,000 square feet in size. The offering includes proactive asset planning guidance and the ability to analyze critical power, cooling and room layout domains, as well as air flow and rack management conditions.

The Advantage Max Data Health Check assesses the following critical data center infrastructure relative to industry best practices: 

·         Power Management: Balances downtime risk versus the cost of power redundancy alternatives. 

·         Physical Layout Assessment: Optimizes the effect of IT room design on energy efficiency and information security.

·         Rack Space: Measures compliance with best-practice temperature and humidity standards to maximize uptime and decrease operational cost.

·         Air Conditioning Management: 3D thermal modeling quickly identifies energy inefficiencies and costly over-cooling, as well as potentially problematic hot spots.

·         Air Distribution Management: Reviews hot and cold air flow separation to increase cooling system capacity, efficiency and performance.

In addition to the Data Center Health Check, the Advantage Max Service Option includes an Asset Capacity Trending component that provides year-over-year capacity snapshots for selected Schneider Electric UPS and cooling systems, as well as recommended component replacement schedules to help maximize asset lifecycle reliability in a proactive and budget-conscious manner.

Earlier this year Schneider Electric was named a leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Data Center Infrastructure Management for its StruxureWare for Data Centers software suite. Building upon the company’s leadership in this space, today’s announcement displays Schneider Electric’s ongoing commitment to provide both large enterprises and small- and medium-sizes businesses (SMBs) with the latest in data center management innovation. For more information about the Advantage Max Service Contract Option, click here.

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 Utilities & Infrastructure, Industries & Machines Manufacturers, Non-residential Buildings, Data Centers & Networks and in Residential. Focused on making energy safe, reliable, efficient, productive and green, the company’s 150,000 plus employees achieved sales of 31 billion US dollars in 2013, through an active commitment to help individuals and organizations make the most of their energy.