Location: Cambridge, MA

Segment: Healthcare

Problem: The organization sought a highly reliable, centralized UPS to protect its computer room.

Solution: Eaton 9355 UPS

Results: Sanofi-Aventis consolidated its smaller UPSs with a 9355 for easier manageability and unparalleled reliability

Background

As one of the world's leading biotechnology companies, Sanofi-Aventis is dedicated to making a major positive impact on the lives of people with serious diseases. Since its founding in 1981, the company has introduced breakthrough treatments across several areas of medicine that have provided new hope for patients. Today, approximately 10,000 SanofiAventis employees serve patients in nearly 100 countries. Their products are focused on rare genetic diseases, multiple sclerosis, cardiovascular disease and endocrinology. The company's commitment to innovation is exemplified by its substantial development program focused on these fields, as well as other areas of unmet medical need. 

Challenge

Ensuring the ongoing health of the critical equipment at its Cambridge headquarters is paramount to the success of Sanofi-Aventis' operations. “A power problem would shut down all our servers and that would cause a catastrophic loss in business continuity,” acknowledges Pat Abban, senior technician. “If that happened, our department heads couldn’t communicate with the rest of the company --- and we have more than 100 sites worldwide.” Until late last year, Sanofi was relying on individual uninterruptible power systems (UPSs) to back up its computer room devices, a method that proved challenging from both a reliability and a management standpoint. The small APC units were not only cumbersome to maintain, but they failed frequently, Abban reveals. “The APC always had issues,” he explains. “They were very temperamental.”

Conversely, Sanofi had enjoyed repeated success with Eaton products, which were safeguarding equipment in several other buildings, including the firm’s previous headquarters. “The Eaton units have never had any issues over the course of time,” Abann emphasizes, noting that even when an older unit experienced a problem with a transformer, “the unit went to bypass and we had no downtime on our servers.” Even more, Abann was “amazed” by the level of service provided by Eaton to quickly resolve the issue. “Our Eaton technician stayed with us for more than 30 hours to get the unit off bypass and up and running again, including driving to Connecticut in the middle of night to pick up a part,” he reports. From that point on, “I asked our IT department not to look at any other UPS other than Eaton,” Abann reveals. “I just don’t think anything else matches the quality."

Solution

So when it came time to consolidate the smaller UPSs into a centralized power protection solution, Sanofi immediately turned to Eaton and quickly honed in on the three-phase 9355 UPS. The unit provides exceptional reliability with a double-conversion design that completely isolates all equipment from power problems and continually monitors incoming electrical power and removed any surges, spikes, sags or other irregularities that are inherent in commercially utility power. During blackout conditions, the 9355’s internal batteries provide emergency power to safeguard operations. In addition to the level of availability afforded by the unit, another big selling point was its compact tower form factor, which is up to 75 percent smaller than comparable UPSs — while delivering 13 percent more power. “We have no extra space here and we were going to have to retrofit another area to accommodate a new UPS,” Abban explains. “But because of the 9355’s form factor, we were able to put in right into our computer room and we didn’t have to modify any of our other systems around it.” The company also values the scalable design of the whi9355, ch can expand as power requirements increase. The unit can be upgraded to provide 50 percent more power without requiring an additional hardware purchase. “We always look for that,” Abban says of the unit’s scalability. 

For ultimate monitoring and management, Sanofi is also taking advantage of the 9355’s power management software suite, which includes applications for remote UPS monitoring, management and shutdown to help ensure system and data integrity. “The IT department is using that,” Abaan reports. The fact that the unit offers impressive green power performance definitely didn’t go unnoticed either. “This was absolutely important because we have platinum LEED certification,” Abban points out. Indeed, by delivering a robust combination of low input current distortion and high power factor, the 9355 is able to operate at greater than 90 percent efficiency across all load ranges, contributing to reduced utility costs, extended battery runtimes and cooler operating conditions. With an all-in-one design that includes internal batteries and an integrated power distribution module with maintenance bypass switch, the 9355 was also exceptionally easily to install, Abban confirms. Furthermore, microprocessorcontrolled ABM® technology with an innovative three-stage charging technique extends the useful life of the 9355 batteries and optimizes battery recharge time, further enhancing the unit’s reliability. “It’s a very trusted piece of equipment,” Abann adds. Sanofi-Aventis' unit is further protected by an Eaton service plan, the value of which cannot be underscored, according to Abann. “When it comes to the UPS, you just can’t have any downtime,” he emphasizes. “If we have any issue at all, we just call Eaton and they will walk us through it. My service guy is extraordinary,” he continues. “I can call him anytime I want with any question, and he calls me for preventive maintenance issues. Having a service contract makes me look good.”

Results

With the 9355 UPS in place, Sanofi can keep its focus on seeking cures for disease, rather than cures for power ailments. “We don’t have to worry, which is a big deal,” Abann concludes. “We’re backed up by Eaton so there’s no concern.” Thanks to the 9355, the company is now able to:

• Maintain continuous uptime to its critical data center equipment
• Streamline maintenance with the consolidated UPS 
• Preserve space with the unit’s small footprint
• Easily expand capacity as needed with the UPS’s scalable design
• Rest easy with an Eaton service plan