Eli D. Scher is the founder of New Continuum Data Centers and serves as its Chairman and CEO. Recently, Eli had an opportunity to discuss data center and energy trends with Jason Walker, Managing Director at Schneider Electric, Cloud & Service Provider Business Development ahead of the upcoming Schneider Electric Innovation Summit held November 13-14, 2018 in Atlanta, GA.
Eli Scher, New Continuum Data Centers:
The theme of the Innovation Summit is focused on powering the digital transformation of energy management and automation. At New Continuum, we are focusing on agile interconnection, rich connectivity, and high-density power for the new requirements of distributed applications/workloads. How does this new digital focus translate to the data center industry?
Jason Walker, Schneider Electric:
Energy management is already important within the data center space and will continue to grow because of the digital revolution. IT is on track to become one of the world’s biggest energy demand drivers by 2030. There is a lot of attention on data center energy consumption and how we can be more efficient to support the trend towards distributed applications/workloads. We believe it’s not a problem that can be solved by products alone. We need smart, connected products overlaid with an Internet of Things (IoT) enabled architecture to provide data center operators with the best information to make the best decisions.
Scher:
How will some of the new technological evolutions such as EcoStruxure™ and other efficient tools impact data center architecture? How will these new platforms benefit New Continuum’s data centers
Walker:
EcoStruxure is based on creating actionable business insight. New Continuum can deploy cloud-based analytics within the data center which will allow you to connect all of your infrastructure products. Having the ability to aggregate data and analyze it to create meaningful insights will allow you to take action, in real-time based on business logic. EcoStruxure will enable data centers to have this capability. Connectivity and analytics enable new levels of efficiency and sustainability. The overall operation of the data center is optimized, from the lifecycle management of the assets to asset performance and operational efficiency. We recognize for a company like New Continuum with the mission to provide the best data center space, these new advances will be a key differentiator.
Scher:
There is discussion in the market about Schneider Electric being an “edge company.” We understand that Schneider has launched fully edge capable components for the building power control market. Can you speak to how these components work and how they will benefit data centers in terms of energy efficiency?
Walker:
Because of the breadth of Schneider’s portfolio, we are the only company that can provide an integrated solution that can monitor and manage the power going into a building, the building automation systems, and the IT layer in the building. The benefit at the edge layer is very consistent across those three domains – increasing performance through monitoring, especially for energy efficiency. There are other benefits for data centers too. Real-time local monitoring, incident management, analysis, and asset utilization offer redundancy to cloud-based monitoring for mission-critical applications.
Scher:
We understand that revisiting aging infrastructure is a necessity and a no-regret move in the age of digitization. The performance of old equipment can be significantly enhanced through better visibility and finite control. How do your technologies and operations allow more insight and predictions into failover and safety in a data center environment?
Walker:
It all starts with the data being collected from the existing equipment. With the EcoStruxure platform – a vendor agnostic system – we can collect data from a wide variety of devices and manufacturers. Once we have that data, the real force multiplier comes with maximizing the value of the data by translating it into actionable intelligence. Being able to predict future alarms or when maintenance will be needed, overall asset health and asset risk analysis almost functions as a crystal ball for data center customers. Imagine how powerful it would be for New Continuum to know when a sensor has picked up a heat increase or a different vibration in a key component. With that information, you will be able to take some type of proactive action. You will be able to stop a failure event. You will have the ability to take preventative action. We believe this will be a positive advantage in helping you proactively manage your data center.
Learn more about these technology innovations and other key energy topics that will be discussed in the Innovation Summit this November. Steve Delo, Director of Facilities Engineering for New Continuum Data Centers, will be in attendance at the summit November 13-14, where he can speak on the benefits of New Continuum and the Schneider Electric equipment utilized in their facilities. To schedule a meeting, email pete@newcontinuum.net.
About Eli Scher – Chairman and CEO, New Continuum Data Centers
Eli D. Scher is the founder of New Continuum Holdings Corporation and serves as its Chairman and CEO. He is an entrepreneur with a broad array of investing and operating experience. Prior to New Continuum, he worked as an analyst at a prominent New York hedge funds where he analyzed corporate securities. Previously, Mr. Scher co-founded and served as CEO of GSME Capital Partners, a private, early-stage investment partnership, and GSME Acquisition Partners I, a publicly traded acquisition vehicle. Additionally, he was Chief Financial Officer and director of MCG Group a Shanghai-based LED-advertising company and was the co-founder, President, and CFO of Fundamental Films. Mr. Scher currently serves as CEO of United Internet Exchange, a New Continuum JV, and serves as Chairman of Open-IX, an Internet industry standards organization. Mr. Scher also currently serves as a Director of HMMI, a manufacturer of large-scale precision steel parts.
About Jason Walker – Managing Director, Schneider Electric
Jason has held numerous positions in his 20+ years of data center industry experience, focusing on various end user customer segments and channels. His current focus with Schneider Electric is driving business development initiatives and sales and marketing strategy within the cloud and service provider segment and telecommunication companies.
