Power Assure

Founded in 2007 and based in Santa Clara, California, Power Assure, Inc. operated as a provider of Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) solutions, focusing on energy management and optimization. The company was co-founded by Clemens Pfeiffer, who also served as the Chief Technology Officer. Power Assure's mission was to address the significant and rising power consumption in data centers, which can account for up to 30% of a web company's operating expenses.

The firm developed a suite of software products, including Dynamic Power Management and Dynamic Power Optimization, designed to provide visibility, analytics, and automation for managing power consumption within and across data centers. Its core technology, marketed as "software-defined power," enabled the dynamic shifting of application workloads between data centers based on real-time power availability, quality, and cost. The system worked by installing an appliance in the client's data center that gathered data from servers, power distribution units (PDUs), and cooling systems. This data was then analyzed by the agentless, SaaS-delivered software to adjust the number of active servers to match application demand precisely, thereby reducing energy waste from idle equipment. The platform integrated with existing management solutions and supported thousands of devices from over 500 vendors.

Power Assure targeted large organizations with multiple data centers, such as government agencies, financial services firms, and managed service providers. NASA was a notable client, engaging the company for a data center consolidation project. The business model appeared to be subscription-based, with pricing for a single module starting around $2,500 per month. The company raised over $60 million in funding from prominent investors including ABB Technology Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ), Good Energies, and In-Q-Tel. Despite its technology and being named a 'Cool Vendor' by Gartner in 2013, the company could not generate sufficient revenue to sustain operations. In October 2014, Power Assure announced it had run out of cash and ceased operations.

Keywords: Data Center Infrastructure Management, DCIM, software-defined power, energy management software, data center optimization, dynamic power management, Clemens Pfeiffer, data center analytics, server power consumption, application workload balancing, IT energy efficiency, data center consolidation, power usage effectiveness, PUE, cloud-based power management, enterprise software, venture capital, In-Q-Tel, ABB Technology Ventures, deadpooled