2016 european data center cooling entrepreneurial company ... · from the perspective of the...

2016 European Data Center Cooling Entrepreneurial

Company of the Year Award

2016

BEST PRACTICES RESEARCH

© Frost & Sullivan 2016 2 “We Accelerate Growth”

Contents

Background and Company Performance ........................................................................ 3

Industry Challenges .............................................................................................. 3

Entrepreneurial Innovation and Customer Impact ..................................................... 3

Conclusion........................................................................................................... 6

Significance of Entrepreneurial Leadership ..................................................................... 7

Understanding Entrepreneurial Leadership ..................................................................... 7

Key Benchmarking Criteria .................................................................................... 8

Entrepreneurial Innovation .................................................................................... 8

Customer Impact ................................................................................................. 8

The Intersection between 360-Degree Research and Best Practices Awards ....................... 9

Research Methodology .......................................................................................... 9

Best Practices Recognition: 10 Steps to Researching, Identifying, and Recognizing Best Practices ................................................................................................................. 10

About Frost & Sullivan .............................................................................................. 11



Background and Company Performance

Industry Challenges

It is not a new fact that data center power requirements are exceeding projections.

However, the associated challenges it presents are constantly increasing. The main

challenge is from the cooling perspective. As the servers become denser and are being

expanded to include blades, twins, and other modular dense form factors, cooling them

effectively has become both laborious and challenging. There are two key challenges- one

from the perspective of the ―cost involved‖ and the other pertaining to the ―effectiveness‖

of heat transfer. Data center operators are thus becoming increasingly concerned about

both CAPEX and OPEX involved with cooling solutions. This is because a lower ―total cost

of ownership‖ is one of the key driving factors for other purchases. The effectiveness of

cooling achieved and the amount of energy required to achieve it are two critical aspects

of data center cooling. It has always been a challenge to find the proper balance and to

excel in both aspects.

Entrepreneurial Innovation and Customer Impact

Market Disruption

Excool’s approach to data center cooling has created a dynamic shift in the industry. It’s

highly efficient compressor-free cooling product offers best-in-class performance and

substantial benefits to customers. The company has developed a unique purpose built

data center cooling product based on indirect adiabatic and evaporative cooling

technologies, whereby it eliminates the need for mechanical cooling. Frost & Sullivan

firmly believes that this highly tangible solution has the potential to disrupt the well-

established and traditional approach to data center cooling.

Excool uses outdoor air as a cooling medium, which indirectly cools the indoor air supply.

It achieves this by passing the heat through a specially designed series of high efficiency

heat exchangers. The company has gone to great lengths to optimize ―air-to-air heat

exchanger technology‖ specifically for the application of adiabatic and evaporative cooling

in data centers. Its ability to achieve this transfer of heat without the outdoor air entering

the building is highly commendable as this prevents any hazards such as fire, air pollution

and salt aerosol from entering the building.

Competitive Differentiation

Excool’s technology has made indirect adiabatic cooling a viable proposition for data

center cooling. Its strategy to acutely focus on developing a superior product specifically

for the data center industry is a key aspect that differentiates it from its competitors.

Some of the other important differentiators from a technical standpoint include its unique

heat transfer medium, adiabatic data center cooling method and more importantly, the



synergy between the two, which forms the essence of system efficiency. By eliminating

the need for energy hungry mechanical cooling, Excool dramatically reduces end users’

infrastructure, operational and maintenance costs.

There are two facets to Excool’s differentiation excellence; one is differentiating itself from

the traditional cooling solutions, which it does with extreme ease. The other one is

differentiating itself from similar solutions in the industry. There are other players in the

market that also offer solutions based on a similar cooling approach. However, Excool has

pioneered the Indirect Adiabatic and Evaporative technology and is not only able to offer a

technically superior product but also complements it with added cost advantage. It uses

less water (typical water consumption for a 1MW load in London would be below 1000m3

per annum, which equates to an average domestic use by 20 people). It is approximately

40% smaller and around 45% lighter than similar offerings available in the market. The

company uses components and materials of the highest quality to ensure long term

reliability and resistance to corrosion. It deploys non-ferrous materials in its products,

enabling it to offer a unique 20 year anti-corrosion warranty. Furthermore, Excool has

invested heavily in R&D to develop its own innovative and unique heat exchanger. It uses

a composite material to manufacture the heat exchanger (as opposed to the commonly

used aluminum) which makes it resistant to corrosion, more robust and leak tight.

Passionate Persistence

Since its inception, Excool has invested heavily in developing its product, and its R&D

investments have been increasing year on year. The product was developed over a period

of four years; however it did not gain any real traction within the market during its initial

stages. By capitalizing on its strong technology know-how, the company steadily moved

forward, perfecting its product to an extent where it can be rightfully called a game

changer today. Excool has demonstrated extreme perseverance and focus to bring its

product to the mainstream and Frost & Sullivan applauds it for this feat.

The company faced several challenges both during and after its concept stage of product

development. The key issues it had to address were 1) remove the risk of outdoor air

contamination entering the data center, 2) ensure the maintenance of a stable

environment and 3) ensure higher reliability and efficiency metrics are achieved when

compared to existing systems. Excool not only addressed these challenges perfectly, but

after its concept stage, also invested heavily in a climate controlled demonstration suite to

showcase the test results. This specific environmental test chamber was built in the West

Midlands, which enabled it to exhibit a full size unit, operating at simulated climatic

conditions. By doing so, it was able to introduce the concept and all its advantages directly

to the end users, thereby demonstrating the simplicity and incredible efficiency of the

units. This demonstration played a crucial role in the company acquiring high profile

customers such as Digital Realty.



Excellent Price/Performance Value

Excool’s business investments extend beyond its R&D, to implementing best practices in

its manufacturing. The company has displayed high level of commitment and emphasis

towards enhancing its manufacturing processes. It has reduced its product build hours by

50% over the past two years, thereby passing on cost benefits to its customers. It is able

to offer a smaller, lighter and more efficient product at a highly competitive price. Its

ability to reduce the dependency on mechanical cooling has a major impact on the size

and cost of the electrical infrastructure. It reduced the size of the diesel gen-set by nearly

60% and the transformer size by nearly 70%. Other benefits include proportional diesel

storage, savings in electrical distribution, switchgear savings, and so on.

In essence, the Excool minimizes the amount of energy required to run the cooling

system, while maximizing the amount of IT power available. This is a boon to data centre

operators (especially third party colocation providers) as they are able to pass the benefits

of these savings to their clients in the form of cheaper service charges. A great example of

cost savings provided by Excool is its project with ―VIRTUS Data Centres‖, a leading

colocation provider in the UK. Excool’s modular system allowed Virtus to build its cooling

infrastructure by increments, adding units in direct proportion to the number of racks and

cabinets it sells. This, according to Virtus, has been the key to minimizing costs, as the

cooling system is closely mapped to the IT infrastructure and units are not over allocated.

“The deployment of Excool technology in VIRTUS Data Centres not only demonstrates our

commitment to being part of a new, innovative and intelligent group of data centre

providers but that we are also serious about our green credentials. Finding a balance

between innovation and responsibility is very important to VIRTUS Data Centres, and the

Excool deployment is another example of our commitment to the environment.” - Neil

Cresswell, CEO, VIRTUS Data Centres.

Superior Customer Ownership Experience

Excool’s philosophy behind providing superior customer ownership experience is to offer a

technically advanced product, loaded with value added features and functionalities and

delivers industry leading cost savings. It offers two modes of operation for enhanced

performance under varied temperature conditions – winter mode and summer mode. Its

winter mode operation uses a combination of winter optimization system and outdoor air

fan speed to control the supply temperature. It retrieves the air returning from the data

hall through the heat exchanger with ECDC plug fans, while drawing cool outdoor air via a

second air path in the heat exchanger. It leverages additional ECDC plug fans for this.

For its summer operation, it reduces the air bulb temperature of the outside air and uses

it as a cooling medium. It achieves this by fully saturating the outside (hot) air by adding

moisture to it. Furthermore, it provides an optional DX module (integrated with the

product) which is designed to supplement the heat exchangers during higher



temperatures. The unique aspect with this optional DX module is that, it is only used to

support the load partially, depending on the temperature increase of the supply air – as

opposed to a direct air system which requires 100% mechanical cooling support if outdoor

air cannot be deployed. For instance, according to ASHRAE, the recorded peak wet bulb

temperature in London is 22.2°C; in this case, if the supply air temperature reaches

24.7°C (2.5°C more than the wet bulb temperature), only 25% of the load would be

supported by the optional DX back-up.

Brand Equity

The Excool brand name has become synonymous with indirect adiabatic and evaporative

cooling. The company has carved a unique spot in the data center cooling industry by

pioneering this innovative cooling approach. There are many players in the industry

including a few well established brands that are trying to develop similar solutions.

However, Excool has a significant head start and is way ahead of its competitors in terms

of perfecting this technology.

Looking to the Future As the first company to introduce indirect adiabatic and evaporative

cooling for Data Centres in the UK and Europe and having achieved tremendous success in

that part of the world, in early 2017 Excool will be entering the North American market.

Although Excool will not be the first company introducing the indirect approach to cooling in

North America, Frost & Sullivan firmly believes that the company’s advanced technology and

exceptionally high quality will ensure a rapid take up of its products and solutions in this

new and dynamic market, elevating its position in the global market to new heights.

Conclusion

With the constant increase in rack density requirements and energy costs, cooling data

centers of all sizes has become a major pain point for enterprises. In addressing this,

Excool has developed the ideal solution for data center operators and owners through its

ground breaking product based on indirect adiabatic and evaporative cooling technology.

Frost & Sullivan finds this product to be a powerful, efficient, environment friendly and

cost effective way to cool today’s data centers.

Because of its strong overall performance, Excool is recognized with Frost & Sullivan’s

2016 Entrepreneurial Company of the Year Award.



Significance of Entrepreneurial Leadership

Ultimately, growth in any organization depends upon customers purchasing from your

company, and then making the decision to return time and again. In a sense, then,

everything is truly about the customer—and making those customers happy is the

cornerstone of any long-term successful innovation or growth strategy. To achieve these

dual goals (customer engagement and growth), an organization must be best-in-class in

three key areas: understanding demand, nurturing the brand, and differentiating from the

competition.

Understanding Entrepreneurial Leadership Demand forecasting, branding, and differentiation are part of an entrepreneurial

company’s larger journey toward forming deep relationships with customers and

permanently altering the market with their actions. These two concepts—entrepreneurial

innovation and customer impact—are therefore the cornerstones of this award, as

discussed further in the next section.



Key Benchmarking Criteria

For the Entrepreneurial Company of the Year Award, Frost & Sullivan analysts

independently evaluated two key factors—Entrepreneurial Innovation and Customer

Impact—according to the criteria identified below.

Entrepreneurial Innovation

Criterion 1: Market Disruption

Requirement: Innovative new solutions that have a genuine potential to disrupt the

market, obsoleting current solutions and shaking up competition

Criterion 2: Competitive Differentiation

Requirement: Deep understanding of both current and emerging competition to create and

communicate strong competitive differentiators in the market

Criterion 3: Market Gaps

Requirement: A clear understanding of customers’ desired outcomes, the products that

currently help them achieve those outcomes, and where key gaps may exist

Criterion 4: Blue Ocean Strategy

Requirement: Strategic focus in creating a leadership position in a potentially

―uncontested‖ market space, manifested by stiff barriers to entry for competitors

Criterion 5: Passionate Persistence

Requirement: A deep belief in the ―rightness‖ of an idea, and a commitment to pursuing it

despite seemingly insurmountable obstacles

Customer Impact

Criterion 1: Price/Performance Value

Requirement: Products or services offer the best value for the price, compared to similar

offerings in the market

Criterion 2: Customer Purchase Experience

Requirement: Customers feel like they are buying the most optimal solution that

addresses both their unique needs and their unique constraints

Criterion 3: Customer Ownership Experience

Requirement: Customers are proud to own the company’s product or service, and have a

positive experience throughout the life of the product or service

Criterion 4: Customer Service Experience

Requirement: Customer service is accessible, fast, stress-free, and of high quality

Criterion 5: Brand Equity

Requirement: Customers have a positive view of the brand and exhibit high brand loyalty



The Intersection between 360-Degree Research and Best

Practices Awards

Research Methodology

Frost & Sullivan’s 360-degree research

methodology represents the analytical rigor of

our research process. It offers a 360-degree-

view of industry challenges, trends, and issues

by integrating all 7 of Frost & Sullivan's

research methodologies. Too often, companies

make important growth decisions based on a

narrow understanding of their environment,

leading to errors of both omission and

commission. Successful growth strategies are

founded on a thorough understanding of

market, technical, economic, financial,

customer, best practices, and demographic

analyses. The integration of these research

disciplines into the 360-degree research

methodology provides an evaluation platform

for benchmarking industry players and for

identifying those performing at best-in-class

levels.

360-DEGREE RESEARCH: SEEING ORDER IN

THE CHAOS



Best Practices Recognition: 10 Steps to Researching, Identifying, and Recognizing Best Practices

Frost & Sullivan Awards follow a 10-step process to evaluate award candidates and assess

their fit with select best practice criteria. The reputation and integrity of the Awards are

based on close adherence to this process.

STEP OBJECTIVE KEY ACTIVITIES OUTPUT

1 Monitor, target, and screen

Identify award recipient candidates from around the globe

Conduct in-depth industry research

Identify emerging sectors Scan multiple geographies

Pipeline of candidates who potentially meet all best-practice criteria

2 Perform 360-degree research

Perform comprehensive, 360-degree research on all candidates in the pipeline

Interview thought leaders and industry practitioners

Assess candidates’ fit with best-practice criteria

Rank all candidates

Matrix positioning all candidates’ performance relative to one another

3

Invite thought leadership in best practices

Perform in-depth examination of all candidates

Confirm best-practice criteria Examine eligibility of all

candidates Identify any information gaps

Detailed profiles of all ranked candidates

4

Initiate research director review

Conduct an unbiased evaluation of all candidate profiles

Brainstorm ranking options Invite multiple perspectives

on candidates’ performance Update candidate profiles

Final prioritization of all eligible candidates and companion best-practice positioning paper

5

Assemble panel of industry experts

Present findings to an expert panel of industry thought leaders

Share findings Strengthen cases for

candidate eligibility Prioritize candidates

Refined list of prioritized award candidates

6

Conduct global industry review

Build consensus on award candidates’ eligibility

Hold global team meeting to review all candidates

Pressure-test fit with criteria Confirm inclusion of all

eligible candidates

Final list of eligible award candidates, representing success stories worldwide

7 Perform quality check

Develop official award consideration materials

Perform final performance benchmarking activities

Write nominations Perform quality review

High-quality, accurate, and creative presentation of nominees’ successes

8

Reconnect with panel of industry experts

Finalize the selection of the best-practice award recipient

Review analysis with panel Build consensus Select winner

Decision on which company performs best against all best-practice criteria

9 Communicate recognition

Inform award recipient of award recognition

Present award to the CEO Inspire the organization for

continued success Celebrate the recipient’s

performance

Announcement of award and plan for how recipient can use the award to enhance the brand

10 Take strategic action

Upon licensing, company may share award news with stakeholders and customers

Coordinate media outreach Design a marketing plan Assess award’s role in future

strategic planning

Widespread awareness of recipient’s award status among investors, media personnel, and employees



About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, enables clients to accelerate growth

and achieve best in class positions in growth, innovation and leadership. The company's

Growth Partnership Service provides the CEO and the CEO's Growth Team with disciplined

research and best practice models to drive the generation, evaluation and implementation

of powerful growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan leverages over 50 years of experience in

partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment

community from 45 offices on six continents. To join our Growth Partnership, please visit

http://www.frost.com.

http://www.frost.com/

2016 european data center cooling entrepreneurial company ... · from the perspective of the...

Documents