IO Software to Support Active Power UPS Modules

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An Active Power PowerHouse unit providing containerized power infrastructure for a modular data center. (Photo: Active Power)

IO and Active Power today announced a strategic partnership, bringing together two companies who have been early players in the modular deployment of data center capacity. Active Power, which specializes in flywheel-based uninterruptible power supply (UPS) technology, will integrate IO.OS management software into its PowerHouse and CleanSource UPS product portfolio.

IO.OS is data center infrastructure management (DCIM) software developed by IO that provides IT and facilities professionals with a complete view of the physical infrastructure layer. The agreement provides Active Power with the IO.OS software for their UPS product portfolio, and calls for joint sales and marketing to Active Power customers, with a focus on customers using Active Power's PowerHouse modules who might be candidates to use IO.OS to manage their entire data center.

“PowerHouse provides a cost-effective and fast-to-deploy solution for the critical power infrastructure of a data center,” said Doug Milner, President and CEO, at Active Power. “By integrating IO.OS into PowerHouse, we are wrapping software tools around the infrastructure to reduce complexity and provide customers more useful analytics to make intelligent decisions so they can achieve their availability, efficiency, and sustainability goals.”

“The IO.OS data center operating system is the emerging standard across the industry, enabling companies to achieve a software-defined data center infrastructure,” said Kevin Malik, CIO and General Manager, IO Labs at IO. "Our partnership with Active Power offers us additional options and expertise for power systems integration and uniquely engineered solutions.”

The market for DCIM tools has become more crowded in recent years, as companies are managing increasingly complex data center environments. A flurry of new companies have introduced software to manage and automate elements of the data center. IO sees its software development efforts as a way to leverage its in-house research-and-development operation and distinguish its offerings in a changing market for IT infrastructure.

"For us, this is a great validation," Malik said of the partnership with Active Power. "I think the DCIM is very competitive right now. There's a lot of players. Right now it's a nascent market. I think you'll see it evolve into a very large industry."

Malik said a key differentiator for IO is the fact that it uses IO.OS to manage multiple data centers and a growing armada of modules.

"We runn the software ourselves on over 1 million square feet of data center space," he said. "Our customers can see it running. With other products, can you trust that they can run across 100,000 or 200,000 servers? Most people can't offer that kind of testbed."