APC Forms Data Centre Software Unit

IT physical infrastructure companies, the folks who make precision power and cooling equipment, uninterruptible power supplies, and energy management software, are starting to make moves into the data centre management software sector.

Emerson Network Power has quietly begun providing system management, monitoring and reporting software and will be expanding its software and services in the months to come. eWEEK will have more on this at a later date.

Special Data Centre

On 27 July, APC (American Power Conversion), owned by Schneider Electric, announced the formation of its own “specialized data center software business to focus” on control of “all aspects of the data center environment.”

The new APC division “will be responsible for advancing all software and management systems for the data center physical infrastructure,” the company said. Soeren Jensen, vice president of APC Data Center Software, will lead the team, which will be responsible for “software development, offer creation, sales, service, marketing and partner programs.”

The company continued, “The Data Center Software business will become a key contributor to Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure architecture, and a strong supporter of Schneider Electric’s energy management initiatives. APC’s InfraStruxure management software portfolio, a critical element of EcoStruxure, will be the focus of this team.”

Data Gathering

APC also explained, “The software portfolio includes InfraStruxure Operations, for daily operations and inventory management; InfraStruxure Central, for data gathering and monitoring; InfraStruxure Capacity; InfraStruxure Change, for planning and optimisation; and InfraStruxure Energy Efficiency, for energy analysis and modeling down to the server location in a rack.”

In the July 2009 white paper “Data Center Management & Energy-Efficiency Software,” The 451 Group reported that, “Schneider Electric has the scale, brand, vision and penetration to take a leadership position in data center energy management software; its size is also helping it make important alli­ances. InfraStruxure is currently just one of several offerings in this market, but it has the potential to be a clear leader.”