Schneider Electric, HP Team To Bring Facilities and IT Together

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Schneider Electric has partnered with HP on solutions featuring its DCIM offering, shown here being demonstrated at Data Center World. (Photo: Colleen Miller)

Bridging the silos between facility and data center managers continues to be a top concern in the Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) space.  This is the impetus behind today's announcement that Schneider Electric will collaborate with HP to deliver a converged data center and IT management platform. The joint solution features HP Converged Management Consulting Services (CMCS) combined with Schneider Electric’s DCIM solution, StruxureWare for Data Centers.

The converged data center and IT management platform will link DCIM capabilities with IT service management (ITSM), effectively connecting physical infrastructure assets to business processes.

"By collaborating with HP to provide a holistic approach to managing IT business process assets and workloads, we are continuing to bridge the gap between IT and facilities," said Soeren Jensen, vice president, Enterprise Management and Software for Schneider Electric. “Enabling IT service providers to instantly view the impact of any changes in their data center, as well as the operational costs associated with these changes is an important step towards improving energy efficiency in data centers and IT.”

The platform provides consistent views for both facilities and IT professionals, allowing them to reconcile asset data between DCIM and ITSM, improving holistic business impact analysis. Schneider Electric provides an in depth look into the infrastructure, while HP provides Asset Management under one holistic view. The combined technologies mean energy savings and more efficient management of their IT services and assets.

“DCIM provides a holistic view of the data center to enable better operational efficiency and capacity planning; however, many organizations lack the unique mix of internal IT, facility and service management expertise needed to make the most of DCIM’s benefits,” said Rick Einhorn, vice president, Technology Services, Datacenter Consulting, HP. “HP Converged Management Consulting Services help customers capitalize on Schneider Electric’s top DCIM solution, StruxureWare by delivering deep expertise in ITSM, IT infrastructure, and facilities, as well as a framework to connect business goals, systems and data center processes.”

Schneider Electric has been keeping busy. The company is making big moves, both expanding its capabilities, its partnerships, and the scope of what it provides, leading to a busy couple of months for Schneider Electric.

Last month, the company acquired AST Modular, beefing up its position in the market for pre-fabricated data centers. The AST deal reflects Schneider’s growing focus on modular solutions, coming just three months after it rolled out a new line of 15 modular enclosures and reference designs. With AST, Schneider added a major global player in the modular market.

Big Moves For Schneider Electric

The company also announced collaboration with Intel on DCM, working with Intel’s recent Virtual Gateway technology for a new product module in StruxureWare, in order to provide full server lifecycle access and power cycling for remote management. It expanded its global service offerings, moving deeper into services and concerning itself with the entire lifecycle of the data center. Then there’s the potential partnership with Sears/Ubiquity. Sears/Ubiquity is working with Schneider Electric on a proposal to build and operate mission-critical facilities in a number of markets around the country, converting former Sears auto center stores into data centers.

Integration Details

Schneider Electric and HP will integrate StruxureWare for Data Centers with HP’s Universal Configuration Management Database (UCMDB), which will enable communication and reconcile asset data between the solutions platforms for DCIM and IT Service Management (ITSM). Also, HP will map the functions and features of StruxureWare for Data Centers into HP’s proprietary Converged Management Consulting Framework. This mapping will allow consultants to make informed recommendations around deployment of the solution into customer’s data centers and determine the best way to integrate the overall ITSM and DCIM systems within the environment.