Panduit Beefs Up DCIM With SynapSense Acquisition

Physical infrastructure vendor Panduit has acquired SynapSense, a data center infrastructure management vendor, for an undisclosed sum, to enhance cooling monitoring capabilities of its DCIM offering. Cooling is a major cost driver in the data center, and SynapSense specializes in thermal risk management and cooling energy savings.

Tinley Park, Ill.-based Panduit's move is an example of on-going consolidation in the growing DCIM field, where vendors race to beef up their offerings with best-of-breed features through acquisitions, partnerships and integration. Analysts expect this market to continue to consolidate throughout this year.

Panduit has a broad portfolio of physical infrastructure hardware, services and DCIM software, while SynapSense specializes in wireless monitoring and cooling-system control for enterprise and service-provider data centers. SynapSense monitoring and cooling automation technology will complement Panduit’s current strengths in power, asset-management and connectivity.

The deal also means broader worldwide reach for SynapSense products, which have only been available in North America, much of Asia and, through a partnership with Stulz, in Australia and New Zealand. Panduit plans to launch the solution globally in the coming months.

Panduit President Tom Donovan said SynapSense had a proven track record of helping data centers reduce energy cost and unlock stranded capacity. "This has resulted in strong, trusted partner relationships with leaders in the banking, ISP, hosting, retail, corporate and government sectors,” he said.

In 2012 Panduit acquired Unite Technologies, expanding its capabilities for energy management and environmental monitoring solutions.