Schneider Electric has expanded its data centre solutions portfolio, with the introduction of enhanced, digitised versions of its critical facility operations offers for cloud and service providers as well as large data centres operators.

Software-driven process with 24×7 facility management

The new, digitised critical facility operations approach couples a software-driven process with 24×7 on-site facility operations and remote support. Benefits for customers include:

• Increased operational efficiency: Implementation in real-world customer environments have resulted inoperational efficiency improvements of up to 15%
• Lower risk and maximum uptime: Qualified personnel operate and maintain the data centre using powerful digital tools to ensure process standardisation and minimise risk of human error
• Efficient IT planning: ‘Hands-on’ tactical workflows are supported by centralised expertise for full lifecycle management of IT assets.

Digitised operations reduce risks

“At Schneider Electric, we believe that digitisation of data centre operations will result in reduced risk of human error, improved efficiency, cost savings, and increased transparency in the data centres we operate around the globe for our customers,” said Anthony DeSpirito, vice president/general manager of Data Centre Operations, Schneider Electric.

“As a single vendor for all critical operations in the data centre gray and white space, Schneider Electric removes the silos frequently seen between facilities and IT staff, eliminating accountability issues and reducing risk.”

China Unicom is one of the world’s largest telecommunication companies, providing cloud services in response to massive demand. China Unicom elected to outsource on-site critical power operation services for two of its sites to Schneider Electric. Today, more than 100 Schneider experts operate two of China Unicom’s hyperscale data centres.

“Schneider Electric’s mature and customised critical facility operations solution enabled us to improve greatly in terms of reliable operation, predictive maintenance, as well as risk control, achieving 100% uptime of the facilities,” said Kang Nan, general manager of Operations and Services Department, China Unicom. “We’ve also effectively reduced energy consumption, saving us up to 30% of cost.”

Customised offer to meet specific site and business requirements

Critical facility operations for data centres is a customised offer with pricing based on size of facility, number of assets, and optional services selected. The offer includes:

• 24×7 infrastructure operations and maintenance; emergency preparedness and response
• Vendor management and oversight
• Daily walk-through and monitoring, change management, and continuous systems optimisation
• Data centre infrastructure engineering for strategic IT hardware capacity planning, power and cooling optimisation, and monitoring day to day operations
• Rack and stack for standards-driven IT asset lifecycle management services, including installation, moves, adds, changes, and asset decommissioning
• Smart hands for on-site technical support, fault identification and resolution, and preventative maintenance.

Critical facility operations is available globally. The enhanced digitised solution is available today in North America and coming soon to the United Kingdom, Ireland, and China, with other regions to follow.

For more information on this offer, visit www.se.com/cfo.