APC by Schneider Electric, a global manufacturer of integrated critical power and cooling services, today announced the formation of a new specialized data center software business to focus and drive a leadership position across all aspects of the data center environment. The Data Center Software business will be responsible for advancing all software and management systems for the data center physical infrastructure. The team will have direct accountability for software development, offer creation, sales, service, marketing and partner programs.

“By establishing a new and dedicated software business with a clear strategy and focus, we are showing our true commitment to become the global leader in software for data centers,” said Laurent Vernerey, president and CEO of APC. “This evolution within APC is well aligned with the Schneider Electric vision of becoming the world leader in energy management.”

The Data Center Software business will be a key contributor to Schneider Electric’s Ecostruxure architecture, and a strong supporter of Schneider Electric’s energy management initiatives. APC’s InfraStruxure® management software portfolio, a critical element of Ecostruxure, will be the focus of this team. Through InfraStruxure, the Data Center Software business will simplify and drive energy and operational efficiency entitlements across all aspects of the data center.

According to The 451 Group report “Datacenter Management & Energy-Efficiency Software” [July 2009], “Schneider Electric has the scale, brand, vision and penetration to take a leadership position in data center energy management software; its size is also helping it make important alli¬ances. InfraStruxure is currently just one of several offerings in this market, but it has the potential to be a clear leader.”

The APC InfraStruxure management software portfolio helps companies improve energy and cost efficiencies, and supports short- and long-term planning, forecasting, and budgeting. With this portfolio data center managers and IT executives have the ability to take a holistic view of data center physical infrastructure service quality, end-to-end energy use, and the various costs associated with it. The vendor-neutral software provides the industry’s first and broadest integrations with critical IT support systems, including power management, building management and enterprise management, enabling the monitoring, controlling, and resolving of issues in a user-friendly environment.

The software portfolio includes InfraStruxure Operations - for daily operations and inventory management; InfraStruxure Central - for data gathering and monitoring, InfraStruxure Capacity, InfraStruxure Change - for planning and optimization; and InfraStruxure Energy Efficiency - for energy analysis and modeling down to the server location in a rack.

This specialized business will be led by Soeren B. Jensen, vice president, Data Center Software, APC, with direct accountability to Laurent Vernerey, President and CEO, APC, and a dedicated supervisory board.