Taking a more deliberate and direct approach to the data centre market

Q Please can you provide some

background on ABB’s involvement in
the data centre industry to date?

A ABB have been supporting the data centre industry since its inception but often as rebranded components and systems , you may not see our brand until you look under the covers of some systems. Since 2010 ABB have been taking a more deliberate and direct approach , building our presence and bringing our industrial innovation to the market. We are doing this for two reasons, primarily because major players in the industry are asking for us to step up but also because we see a market with a fantastic potential for portfolio of products and solution.

Q What are the major data centre
milestones to date?

A We are now partnering with and supplying to some of the biggest names in this industry , our relationships with operators , constructors and engineering players are the basis for our success. We have been part of a data centre deployment in nearly every country in world and with every customer sub-segment. Our DCIM platform is world class and built on our heritage in the industrial and process segments

Q Clearly, ABB is a huge, global
engineering organisation firm, so how
does this massive pool of knowledge
benefit the data centre space?

Three areas come to mind: Firstly, we have a strong global community of power and automation engineers, experienced and focussed on creating and maintaining critical large scale systems; second, our customer facing activities are backed up by extensive research and development literally creating the products of tomorrow (our leadership in direct current is a good example); finally, and particularly relevant for a relatively young sector like Data Centres, we have encountered and overcome significant challenges previously in other sectors, and so can bring this insight to bear.

Q In general terms, what does ABB bring
to the data centre space?

A We are firmly focused on Power and Automation and our products are class leading in terms of quality, efficiency & scalability. This is a competitive segment but we are one of a very few number of players that deliver a consistent solution and service globally. In the last 2 years we have filed over 2000 patents, many of which bring clear value to our customers.

Q How does this compare to what other
organisations are offering in this field?

A We compete in the market by being uncompromising in terms of quality and efficiency, for sure there are other players but our brand and our heritage stand for quality and reliability. When clients are committing hundreds of millions of pounds to data centre projects they need dependable and committed suppliers. That’s how we stive to be seen in the market.

Q In more detail, does ABB get involved
in data centre planning and design?

A We collaborate with and support the major players in the sector, with engagement early in the design lifecycle to ensure that designs and specifications can avail of our leading edge designs and innovations

Q Does the company have an overall
energy efficiency offering for the data
centre space?

A At a product level, we have pioneered high efficiency for transformers, switchgear, motors and UPS with market leading performance. Our Variable speed drives (VSD) allied to comprehensive offerings in measurement products allow us to create solutions that are flexible and Smart. And, of course, via our Decathlon DCIM offering, we can provide the control and management capabilities needed to drive on going efficiency improvements. Add to this our Data Centre Assessment Services, and we can address efficiency holistically, developing solutions and quantifying business cases.

Q Specifically, what does ABB offer in
terms of power and cooling
technology?

A ABB supply the entire power chain from grid to PDU, with associated control, supervision and maintenance services. On cooling, we offer drives, motors and sophisticated automation.

Q You seem to make a major play around
your Decathlon DCIM product?

A DCIM is essentially automating the operations and capacity planning for the data centre, we are uniquely positioned to leverage our decades of industrial experience in this domain. We bring an open platform and decades of automation expertise to the market and it has been received very well. From a standing start in the datacentre segment a few years ago we are now considered by the likes of Gartner ,451 and Forrester as a key player. We have deployed in some major facilities worldwide and we are very proud of our progress. We have lots more to offer so watch this space.

Q Grid connections is another offering –
why is this so important?

A Grid connection and substation infrastructure are the longest lead item in any deployment if there is no pre-existing capability. More and more operators are looking take control to reduce lead time from the utility, manage capital cost and potentially buy energy at a lower price. |Fundamentally its about managing risk and reducing operating costs, ABB have delivered this functionality to several major players in the segment.

Q ABB offers ‘measurements’ – over and
above the DCIM offering above, what
are these and how do they help folks
running data centres?

A The old adage that ‘you can’t manage what you don’t measure’ is certainly true for data centres. ABB have a wide range of Smart measurement products with an excellent history of accurate and reliable operation in remote and hostile environments. These devices provide the window on the power and cooling systems, ensuring effective management, control and optimisation.

Q You offer Thomas & Betts cabling
products – what are the specifics of
this product portfolio?

A T&B, Cyberex and JTP are all well known brands in the US and significant players in the industry there , expect to see more of these brands in Europe as our integration continues.

Q Moving on to some of the IT trends that
are having an impact on the data centre
right now, how can ABB help end users
address the issues created by the move
to the Cloud?

A Cloud and Service models are changing the IT marketplace and delivering ever more capability to the CIO at lower price points. This is driving hyper-competition just now and while the net global spend by the industry continues to increase, the number of distinct operators is shrinking. We see the colo, telco and internet sub segments thriving at the expense of the traditional enterprise buyer.

The industry is consolidating and the commercial operators and end users are looking for more modularity in deployment to better manage capital, they are looking for more automation (DCIM) to better manage operating costs and are looking for better supply chain to reduce execution risk. ABB play well to these requirements and its getting us closer to the major international players.

Q What about other issues such as
Big Data, mobile IT and the general
move towards more and more
automation – does ABB have a role to
play in some or all of these?

A The key issue here is going to be that every discrete component , be it a motor, the UPS , a breaker , a drive or even a transformer will need to be addressable over the network. Automation, remote operations and self-diagnostics will become the standard. Enter the age of the Internet of Things.

Q Do you see any other issues facing
data centre owners/operators at the
present time?

A Keeping up with the growth in demand that is already ‘baked in’; for example, the migration of content from TV and even school work to online is already in full
swing even before IoT or expansion into Africa and Asia. A second issue, exemplified by the recent disruption at the Bank of England, a lot of legacy systems will require migration as they become increasingly unsupportable – both a threat and an opportunity.

Q What about in the future?

A You mean 2016? One issue is going to be how to continue to re-configure and grow rapidly as the mass (and hence inertia) of the sector continues to grow, especially based on a power infrastructure which is essentially mid 20th century.

Q A question that has to be asked – is
ABB in the glass half empty or half full
camp when it comes to mid to long
term energy resources and the impact
their (lack of) availability might have on
the data centre space?

A Energy availability is likely to play out in a similar way to the finance industry in the last decade. There will be dire warnings in parallel with ‘business as usual’ right up until there is a perceived crisis and at some point, a switch to more scarce, more expensive energy. A problem for everyone in the sector is that, unlike with the Millennium bug, there is no clear sense of when the crisis will be, and therefore limited urgency in making preparations. Given the uncertainty, I think most players will adopt a pragmatic approach, implementing efficiency and sustainability where it is aligned with short term business objectives.

Q Are you able to share one or two brief
customer success stories that
demonstrate how ABB makes a
difference in the data centre?

A Unfortunately, for reasons of client and commercial confidentiality, I can’t share some of the exciting projects that we have recently been involved with. If you were to draw up a list of the top ten players in interent, telecoms and colo in Europe, I would expect we have multiple engagements with 90% of the companies on the list.

Q What can we expect from ABB in the
data centre space in the coming
months?

A We will be making some announcements about significant new customers and also new technologies. Watch out for our microgrid initiative delivering value to a datacentre customer, our evolving direct current portfolio and a continued focus on bring our DCIM platform to more customer.

Q Any other comments?

A There is an internal ‘motto’ within our business that says “If only ABB knew what ABB knows”. Our European Data Centre Initiative, supported and led at the highest level in our business aims to connect our capabilities with issues in the sector, developing value adding solutions. Our Data Centre Assessment Services are a key component in realising this.