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Technology advances in AI, automation, and cloud computing are driving demand for data center colocation capacity, putting pressure on providers to build faster, better, cheaper, and greener. However, despite the need for speed, owners face various design and operational challenges that get in the way of bringing data centers online quickly.
These challenges include complex design and construction processes and difficulties in tracking operations to drive efficiencies and save on energy costs. Data center operators often lack automated, intelligent systems for monitoring and visibility. This makes it difficult to drive operational efficiencies and achieve energy savings to support sustainability strategies, as highlighted in this new Forrester report.
Without intelligent monitoring systems, operators cannot get insights into the performance and health of critical power and electrical systems, the report says. And that means they cannot make changes to optimize power consumption or anticipate operational issues that can later escalate into equipment failures.
Often, inefficient use of data center operations resources forces staff to perform time-consuming tasks manually, such as reading and reporting on meters and walking around the facility to identify system problems. In addition, a lack of streamlined workflows and collaboration tools causes inefficiencies, duplicate efforts, and delays in commissioning.
Data center operators need intelligent systems so they can perform comprehensive monitoring of critical data center infrastructure, including power usage and cooling efficiency. They need to optimize energy usage by identifying inefficiencies and taking action to reduce their carbon footprint. Additionally, operators should enhance data center management by implementing automation and centralized control of building systems.
Overcoming the roadblocks to data center design
To address these challenges, data center owners need tools and processes that deliver efficiency and standardization through connectivity, monitoring, management, and visualization capabilities. On the standardization front, this comes down to deploying solutions, such as building management systems (BMS), electric power monitoring systems (EPMS), and solutions that integrate and enable centralized monitoring and management.
Standardization is key to streamlining the process by bringing consistency to design, management, and connectivity, enabling a well-defined architecture that can more easily be replicated between locations. Every layer of infrastructure, including connectivity, data capture, analysis and monitoring, cybersecurity, and carbon monitoring, can be managed centrally and consistently, regardless of location. Solutions can be assembled, tested, and validated offline to ensure everything fits the overall, standardized design and aligns with the need to build faster, cheaper, better, and greener.
Achieving faster data center design and deployment
Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxureTM solution enables standardization with integrated EPMS and BMS software that connects with smart meters and IoT devices to enable fast deployment of data centers and colocation facilities in a consistent, sustainable way. This approach boosts efficiency and reduces expenses by tackling the challenges that make data center design and commissioning complicated and protracted.
As noted in the Forrester report, “The Total Economic Impact™ Of Schneider Electric EcoStruxure For Data Centers,” data center owners have realized multiple benefits from implementing these software tools, automation capabilities, and design templates. For instance, customers have accelerated design cycles by 25% to 33% and reduced utility expenses by 22.5%. They’ve also benefited from downtime reductions, security improvements, and operational efficiency gains.
One customer said that with Schneider Electric software solutions, “you do not have to engineer from the start. I would say using templates, we are saving 80% of engineering time.” Said another customer, “All of our data centers now are using the same structure, the same EPMS and BMS, the same hardware, and the same software. We want consistency and standardization.”
These are the types of gains that data center owners need to stay competitive. Capacity demand will only continue to increase as the use of AI, large language models (LLM), and other advanced technologies skyrocket. Download the Forrester report to learn how Schneider Electric software solutions can improve your data center design and commissioning processes and learn more about smart building operations for more efficient and sustainable buildings.
Guest Blogger: Lars Lindquist
Lars Lindquist is a global solution architect and part of Schneider Electric’s data center segment organization.
In his current role, Lars focuses on developing and standardizing BMS and EPMS solutions for global data center co-location providers and providing data center training for consultants, designers, and project delivery teams.
Lars has over 25 years in Schneider Electric and the BMS/EPMS industry and he has been working in a variety of technology, sales and management roles in EMEA, NAM and APAC.
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