Data Center Management

Background

With more than 20 years of data center monitoring experience, this pioneering hyper-scale solution provider wanted to put that expertise to work in a new offering that would extend the life of the batteries it monitored, reduce service costs, and minimize downtime by anticipating, addressing, and eliminating problems. They were already capturing and storing terabytes of data, and had deep domain expertise on staff, but struggled with scale and repeatability. By leveraging AI-powered analytics and that expertise, they knew they could put their data to work for their clients. What they needed was an industrial operations platform that could help to bring it all together and do so in a way that wouldn’t add to existing personnel workload or require additional staff to operate and maintain.

It was a completely novel concept, but this company has a long-standing track record for innovation and ‘going beyond’. They knew this approach would not only improve the day-to-day operations of their business, but would also deliver an exceptional customer experience that goes beyond anything they offered previously and - more importantly - anything that competitors had on the market. The key to unlocking this opportunity came in the form of a cloud-based digital twin and machine learning platform that combined the expertise of their teams with the predictive modeling capabilities that only TwinThread could deliver.

A Visionary Approach

This company has seen it all when it comes to battery backup systems and then strives to use that experience to go beyond - beyond infrastructure, beyond service, beyond analytics, to think big picture, combining cutting-edge technologies with their expert teams to deliver best-in-class solutions for maximum uptime and minimum hassle. Most recently, they have adopted cloud-based artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to develop a platform that goes well beyond the industry’s current monitoring system capabilities.

The Challenge

The company supports millions of assets and sensors in battery backup systems. Each provides data streams that must be processed to predict battery life and appropriately dispatch Field Services to ensure critical systems uptime. The optimum solution would have these predictions done in real-time; however, the massive amount of data had stymied earlier efforts and required heavy manual intervention. The personnel component was particularly challenging because, like most businesses in the early 2020s, finding and hiring qualified talent was a challenge. Moving from “reactive” to “proactive and predictive” operations required an innovative, data-centric approach, and the technology partner they chose had to be able to support their current and future innovation initiatives.

The company hypothesized that they could find a technology solution that could:

• process their data in real-time despite its size,
• leverage their in-house experts and experienced field service techs without forcing them to work 24X7,
• be implemented in a phased manner,
• scale as they continued to take on new customers and support other types of batteries.

Meeting these needs would allow them to create the next-generation asset monitoring solution they envisioned.

The Solution

The data center solution provider teamed its subject matter experts with TwinThread’s digital twin-powered industrial analytics platform, creating a 24X7 Virtual Operations Center (VOP) which delivers real time-monitoring, predictive analytics, and optimization recommendations on:

• battery life, including replacement cycles,
• maintenance activities improving and/or extending battery performance, including optimal timing of maintenance activities,
• proactive, planned dispatch, with multiple batteries serviced in one visit,
• underlying root causes for battery failure.

This integration of in-house and field-based service experts with cutting-edge technology enabled the solution provider to create a Virtual Operations Center around battery optimization. Experts' knowledge is baked into the platform, and the VOP connects those same experts to batteries or personnel who need their help regardless of location.

The Result

With TwinThread, the solution provider made their vision become a reality. The TwinThread Industrial Operations Platform delivered the foundation they needed to evolve from a reactive to proactive services model. The Virtual Operations Center they created using the platform empowered them to do so utilizing their existing in-house personnel, supporting over 450 sites worldwide. The AI-driven optimization applications extended and amplified the expertise of their teams, and their clients were able to maintain their assets for longer than ever while improving profits and maintaining critical uptime performance, saving millions of dollars. The provider is now working on using the solution to offer capital planning tools to its customers to extend asset life and profit further.