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MT: If you would like better insight and control to manage your data center operations, then you’re in the rightplace! Welcome to ABB’s Data Center Solution Series. In this edition, you’ll meet Rafael Valdes, Director ofEnergy Management at Telx. <click> Telx is a data center solution provider with 20 data centers—andgrowing. Rafael and his team manage 225,000 MWh of power per year for over a million sqft of white space.Rafael will explain how Telx uses Decathlon for Data Centers to meet the highest level of performance andcustomer service while keeping costs under control. This edition is about 8 minutes. So relax, lean in, andprepare to be inspired.

MT: Thank you for joining us, Rafael.

RV: Hi Marina, thank you for having me today.


MT: What were your top needs that ultimately led you to adopt Decathlon for Data Centers?

RV: At Telx we saw our challenges manifest in two areas: operational needs and a business needs. <click>Operations required more information to proactively maintain 100% uptime and 100% on-time deploymentsfor our clientele. And, our business needed an automated way to more accurately forecast capacity. <click>That is, to forecast the amount of power, cooling, space and connectivity for each of our 1200+ customerswho are at various stages in their business life cycle.


RV: For my group, Energy management, I’m directly responsible for energy bills across 20 data centers thatamount to over $30 million per year. These bills continued to increase every month as we added morecustomers AND as our existing clients used their provisioned power. You can image how energy costsimpact our bottom line! We decided we needed to gain more information and control of our data centeroperations. We decided we needed an industrial-strength DCIM system.


MT: How did you approach gaining the insight you needed while curbing costs?

RV: My approach was to architect a DCIM solution that had a truly open architecture and could integrate withour existing systems and applications. It needed to provide visibility across multiple sites and automate ourprocesses. By creating a data architecture, we were able to leverage our existing infrastructure—bothhardware and software assets.

RV: When we implemented this new approach, we didn’t have to replace anything! Almost like ‘plug andplay’, all systems and Decathlon work in symphony with other Telx information systems. <click> Decathlon forData Centers helps us monitor and integrate data from power, HVAC, building and IT—including non-nativeapplications.


RV: Our approach to DCIM allows us to gain a better understanding of our customers’ usage trends—which,in turn, enables us to forecast their needs faster and with more accuracy. <click> By correlating data centerperformance metrics with third-party business applications that we already use in-house, like our enterprisefinancial systems, we gain far more insight—without having to fumble with exporting data into spreadsheets…If you work in a data center and you’re using spreadsheets, then you know what I’m talking about!…Decathlon for Data Centers helps us automate our data center operations—at the data layer, the networklayer, and the physical infrastructure layer.


RV: Also, as our business grows we need to quickly scale our data center operations. Since 2006, we grewfrom 2 sites to 20—and we’re still growing. We need visibility into the performance of all kinds of systemsregardless of the manufacturer: <click> fuel systems, power distribution systems, cooling systems, ITsystems—basically all assets. This helps us find more strategic ways to manage energy consumption andassets across our 20 sites. For example, we’re not just optimizing electricity. In addition to classic kWhanalysis, Decathlon allows us to incorporate utilization data from the CRAC units with the outside condenserwater source data that we get from our landlord. Because of this, we can see the utilization of the CRAC unitsas a specific percentage of the capacity, so we can tune-up the whole facility. This is crucial analysis if yourkWh and maintenance costs are very expensive.


MT: Based on your experiences, what do you believe will be one of the most significant changes in DCIMcapabilities that will appear in the market over the next two to three years?

RV: Information is key for data center management. I think users will start demanding that DCIM tools mustreadily integrate with all systems—to input and to output information from other systems, like an app on yourphone.

RV: This is one of the reasons why we execute well: Our practice relies on a single data source foranalyses by various roles. For example, the operations team will focus on reducing energy consumption,while our executives will be looking at the same data to measure overall company revenue goals. In thisexample, you can see <click> one of our facility floor plans with system performance data used by facilities,<click> our customer optimization report used by finance, <click> one of our power distribution dashboardsused by electrical engineering, and <click> one of our glycol loops used by our mechanical engineers. Wehave a single data source with multiple views for various roles.


MT: Thank you, Rafael.

MT: To recap, Telx is using Decathlon for Data Centers as a key component of their DCIM strategy.Decathlon’s capability to integrate with and bring visibility to the entire data center operations enables Telxtake a strategic leap forward with their business and operations:

• <click> Integration with native and non-native applications, as well as component integration withpower, HVAC, building and IT systems.

• <click> Holistic visibility and more information for faster and more accurate capacity forecasting;improved cost management by correlating data center performance metrics with financial systems.

• <click> Managing a flexible network of power, cooling, space and connectivity is more reliable andefficient with automation.

Ultimately, Telx continues to grow AND delivering services to their customers faster—staying in front of theirtargets of 100% uptime and 100% on-time deployments.


MT: Thank you for taking a few minutes to learn more about ABB Decathlon for Data Centers. I invite you todownload more information on this topic by <click> visiting our web page at abb.com/decathlon-datacenters.Or, simply click on ‘Attachments’ at the upper left corner of your screen.

MT: Let us know how we can help you.


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