Schneider and Compass partner to streamline modular data center deployments

By Andy Patrizio, Network World |

Andy Patrizio is a freelance technology writer based in Orange County, California. He's written for a variety of publications, ranging from Tom's Guide to Wired to Dr. Dobbs Journal.

Schneider Electric and Compass Datacenters have announced a partnership that's aimed at expanding the two companies' production capabilities for modular data centers. They're building a 110,000 square-foot facility where they'll integrate Schneider’s power management equipment with Compass’s prefabricated data center modules in an effort to speed deployments across the US.

It’s an ideal match. Schneider makes the infrastructure that runs data centers and Compass designs and builds data centers for hyperscalers and cloud service providers worldwide. Compass builds standard-design data centers as well as the newer modular type, which is gaining in popularity.

"This modern approach we're pursuing supports both organizations' goals and serves as a guidepost for vendor and industry partnerships others can follow," said Aamir Paul, North America President of Schneider Electric, in a statement.

The new facility, which is adjacent to Compass’ Red Oak, Texas campus, will enable the two companies to integrate their supply chain networks and streamline the delivery of pre-engineered, prefabricated IT infrastructure.

Modular data centers can be thought of as an extension of containerized data centers from 20 years ago, when Sun Microsystems first introduced a shipping container packed with hardware and ready to deploy. Modular data centers take this concept one step further and prioritize scalability, so you can start small and increase capacity by adding on ready-to-deploy modules as your needs increase.

Compass primarily serves cloud service providers, however the companies are seeing demand for more on-prem data centers from the enterprise side as well, according to Phanney Kim-Brevard, head of business strategy and transformation data center systems business at Schneider Electric.

The consistency and quality of modular data centers has been validated over the past few years, Kim-Brevard said. “We're finding that more and more of our cloud and service provider and end market customers are really benefiting from the speed that they gain” when taking the modular approach, she said.

The speed of deployment depends on the complexity of the modular solution; however, generally speaking, the companies can produce a modular solution 50% faster than traditionally built solutions, Kim-Brevard said.

“The reason Schneider Electric can do that is because of the dedicated expertise behind the tender, design, and fabrication stages, utilizing the most efficient methodology throughout. It also helps that we already produce 90% of the hardware that goes into a data center,” she said.

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Andy Patrizio is a freelance journalist based in southern California who has covered the computer industry for 20 years and has built every x86 PC he’s ever owned, laptops not included.

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