Computacenter helps create businesses of the future with Intelligent Buildings proposition launch

Computacenter announces the launch of its new Physical Infrastructure proposition, aimed at enabling organisations to create better workspaces. Incorporating the new energy management and intelligent buildings divisions and drawing upon the expertise of its existing structured cabling division, it aims to empower businesses. The proposition will offer customers intelligent technology that can cut energy consumption, increase security, improve the productivity of the physical estate and its workers, leading to reduced operational and capital costs.

“In an increasingly digital enterprise, when rental rates and energy consumption are at an all-time high, it’s essential that organisations become more intelligent with their estates,” says Neal Silverstein, Business Line Director Physical Infrastructure. “Our physical infrastructure offerings enable organisations to cope with the increasing demands of workers accessing and using different IT devices at their desks and in meeting rooms. From CCTV and digital signage to light sensors and meeting room booking solutions, we increase control and consistency and remove operational and capital costs.”

Computacenter’s Physical Infrastructure proposition unifies its energy management, intelligent buildings and structured cabling solutions:

Energy Management
Computacenter’s Energy Management division aims to make IT leaner, lower power consumption and reduce operational costs by managing and monitoring energy consumption. For businesses this means fewer outages, smaller carbon footprints, and gives them the ability to understand where costs can be reduced in buildings and datacenters. Solutions include power and environmental monitoring, power optimisation and energy management. These technologies allow organisations to understand their energy consumption, improvements which can be made, and the capabilities to manage and monitor energy consumption across their buildings and IT infrastructure in real time. For example, if areas of the datacenter are running at a temperature which makes it inefficient, Computacenter’s Energy Management solution will alert Facilities and IT managers to the issue straight away, giving them the data to understand the issue, take action and save on their energy costs.

Intelligent Buildings
Computacenter’s Intelligent Buildings division offers interactive facilities solutions and IP Physical Security which aims to maximise resources and productivity through audio-visual, lighting, CCTV and wireless technologies. Through these solutions, buildings can detect when lights, cameras, meeting rooms, and workspaces are in use. This gives IT and Facilities departments better control over their meeting room, workspaces and building exteriors, allowing them to understand what their buildings, meeting rooms and workspaces are being used for at different times of the day and night. It also empowers IT and Facilities teams to give extra support to workers when they need it and make sure they are working in safe, secure, productive and cost efficient environments. For example, Computacenter worked with Cherwell District Council and Thames Valley Police to reduce crime in North Oxfordshire, by installing a high-quality CCTV control and recording system. This offered the two organisations instant playback facilities, improving speed of evidence gathering and allowing them to dedicate more time to combating crime.

Structured cabling
Computacenter’s existing structured cabling business underpins the new proposition by simplifying the design, installation and management of cabling infrastructures for the workplace, network and datacenter. Solutions include managed cabling, infrastructure management and structured cabling. Whether businesses are investigating ways to make their datacenters more efficient, expand their IT networks or relocating offices, Computacenter can advise, design, implement, deploy and manage cabling requirements from wireless to wired, based on the building, IT, facilities and power management objectives.

“Our joined-up approach brings IT and facilities together to create greater efficiency, flexibility and agility across the organisation,” Silverstein continues. “By converging facilities and IT requirements, buildings are more secure, more sustainable and more scalable, which makes them more intelligent and move them from being a business cost to a business enabler.”