‘Power cos are leaning towards energy efficient solutions to help operators reduce their opex’
What are the key market trends you identify in the power management segment?
It is important to define how APC by Schneider Electric is involved in power management. We are a provider of backup power products and services which include surge suppressors, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), power conditioning equipment, and power management software in the market. One of these trends is a movement towards higher power densities in data centers where consolidation, high density servers, and virtualization are major drivers.
Energy cost reduction is also an ongoing trend which has led to a more standardized approach in designing and building data centers.
Another major trend is creating the ideal cooling system for data centers that will take into consideration the various parameters for operation like density, peak vs average load, and other criteria for day-to-day operations.
What are your company’s initiatives to reduce power consumption?
Across the globe we are present wherever data is created, transmitted, or stored. For protection of large and medium data centers and security systems, APC by Schneider Electric provides industrial strength battery back-up, cooling solutions, and data center management software.
We have started a new business vertical which provides audit, assessment, and consulting services for better data center infrastructure management. It audits the health of data center and checks its performance in terms of energy efficiency, space, flexibility, and availability.
How do you see the next fiscal and what are the new changes that you would like to bring in your company?
Companies in the telecom space and big data centers are leaning more towards energy efficient products and solutions to help operators reduce their operating expenses. Organizations will continue and even accelerate consolidation efforts within and among data centers to improve overall energy efficiency through greater economies of scale. Most data center operators will have a virtualized and load balanced infrastructure even in telecom.
Current trends in power management show that businesses are going for more integrated solutions. They prefer scalable and modular deployments. On the design front, power management products are being designed with higher wattage per cubic inch due to the steep increase in property prices.
With India’s economy set to grow at a brisk pace and with the continued power deficit situation, the demand for alternate or back-up power solutions in the form of generator sets, power inverters, and UPS solution are expected to witness a healthy growth in the coming years.