Schneider Electric Snaps Up Data Centre Specialist

International energy giant Schneider Electric has announced the acquisition of Lee Technologies, a management specialist of data centres in North America.

Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Management Specialist

Lee Technologies, based in Fairfax, Virginia., specialises in 24/7-type data centre services, such as  remote monitoring command centres and on-site critical facility operations.

It also specialises in customer segments that include federal government, financial services, telecommunications, information technology and health care. Lee has about 300 employees and in 2010 generated sales of about $140 million (£86 million).

Schneider is joining a spate of other companies from peripheral data centre-related markets that are getting into data centre management. Others in this category include Cisco Systems (originally networking), Iron Mountain Digital (data archiving) and Emerson’s Avocent (IT consulting).

With the new acquisition, France-based Schneider Electric obtains new capabilities in general consulting, site assessment, design, equipment specification and selection to integration, commissioning, facility operations staffing, maintenance and proactive 24/7 remote monitoring.

Data Centre Boost

This full slate of services will bolster Schneider Electric’s IT business skills in data centre management, Laurent Vernerey, executive vice president of Schneider Electric IT business, said.

The data centre segment has been one of the world’s fastest growing users of energy for the last decade.