Schneider offering Solutions to meet today’s business agility

M Gurudutt
Direct Channel Business, 
Schneider Electric IT Business, India

IT adoption and sophistication continues to grow to support business growth. In fact, India’s Data Center market which stands at USD 2.5 billion in 2013, is expected to grow to USD 3 billion by 2016, growing at CAGR 8.5% every year. With multiple applications running simultaneously, organizations are looking at a more centralized operation and hence the dependency on Data Centers is increasing.

With data centers growing in space, companies are also looking at Data Center Infrastructure Management software, which allows users to monitor, optimize and intelligently plan power and cooling capacity in the data center. DCIM tools have become essential as the availability and operating costs of the data center have become increasingly intertwined with the facility.

As more companies are looking at energy cost reduction, it has led to a more standardized approach to designing and building data centers. Therefore the industry is focusing on management tools that integrate power, cooling, racks, security and management, offering enhanced energy management and efficiency abilities to a data center environment.

Schneider Electric IT Business is a leader in energy management solutions and all products are designed to reduce energy costs of organizations upto 30%.

In an exclusive interaction with M Gurudutt, Direct Channel Business, Schneider Electric IT Business, India shares about Schneider’s initiatives and roadmap for the coming years.

Please tell us about the launch of data centre infrastructure management (DCIM) software solution in association with Intel.?

Schneider Electric launched their first data center infrastructure management (DCIM) software solution that provides server access without the need for additional hardware. This new product module for StruxureWare Data Center Operation is the result of leveraging Intel Virtual Gateway technology to provide full server lifecycle access and power cycling for remote management.

In combining DCIM and software KVM technology, Server Access allows IT managers, data center managers/operators and facility managers to launch, manage, troubleshoot and control servers directly from the DCIM software, providing a comprehensive “single pane of glass” solution from the facility down to the server level, including a physical model for the location of servers, which enables identification of potential issues such as power or cooling impact.

What is Schneider’s roadmap for improving their green credentials?

In 2012, we launched our first green UPS – the Back UPS Pro the most energy efficient backup unit designed to protect homes and businesses from experiencing the inconvenience caused by power outages, minimize energy consumption and help the consumer save as much as Rs.2000 a year on electricity bills. It is the first UPS in India with intelligent green features like, power saving outlets that automatically turn down idle peripherals, high efficiency charging system and “AVR Bypass” to reduce power consumption.

Both Smart UPS VT and Galaxy 300 launched this year are also designed to save energy cost upto the first UPS in India with intelligent green features like, power saving outlets that automatically turn down idle peripherals, high efficiency charging system and “AVR Bypass” to reduce power consumption.

Tell us about the Service Bureau recently inaugurated by Schneider Electric in Bangalore?

Schneider Electric IT Business launched a Services Bureau, a Center of Excellence that offers complete remote monitoring program of physical IT infrastructure to help customers reduce operational costs significantly, minimize risk, optimize energy costs and gain competitive advantage through data analytics. The Services Bureau seamlessly integrates information management systems, monitoring solutions, data science and technical & operational expertise.

The Services Bureau addresses four challenges that CXOs and the IT teams of organizations faces today:

• Ensuring operational effectiveness of investments made in the IT infrastructure.

• Ensuring business continuity by minimizing IT downtime.

• Minimizing risks and ensuring safety of operations.

• Having enough specialist resources to run the increasingly complex IT infrastructure

Schneider Electric’s new Services Bureau will be a one-stop solution for all critical environments (critical Facilities and Data Center environments), uniquely positioned to address the business requirements and meet the needs of IT and Facility Managers. It is designed to help manage the load on physical IT infrastructure due to a shift to a virtual and high density server. It is also an effective solution for large, on-premise Data Centers or critical facilities that manage complicated IT environments. Organizations increasingly facing the challenges of high operational and maintenance cost including energy costs and shortage of skilled technical personnel will benefit from specialized services of the Services Bureau to substantially reduce their capex and opex.