Aligned - December 2020

ALIGNED

Putting Sustainability at the Heart of Data Management

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Adaptive Data Centers

DIGITAL REPORT 2020

Adaptive Data Centers

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Putting Sustainability at the Heart of Data Management

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www.a l i gne de ne r g y . com

ALIGNED

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Aligned has completed a historic billion-dollar round of financing specifically linked to sustainability. CEO Andrew Schaap is eyeing the possibilities it opens up

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t’s a mark of Andrew Schaap’s modesty that he says of the Covid-19 pandemic, “We’re weathering it well.” While other

companies were diving for cover in the second quarter of 2020, Aligned – where Schaap is CEO – “saw a very big uptick in February, March, April, and May”.

“The pandemic has proven to be somewhat of a use case study in capacity planning for our big customers,” he explains. “All of them run analysis on what they can get out of a server, what they can get out of a CPU, what they can get out of a storage device or networking device. But the ones that are really born on web technologies are being pushed to the limit of what they can do. And so, our customers have been able to see just how effective adaptive infrastructure and our Delta3 cooling technology are when it comes to seamlessly addressing those peaks in demand.”

As well as higher headroom capacity, data patterns have changed. Schaap points to a gaming

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ALIGNED

“ This is a capital-intensive business. You need capital partners that understand the business” — Andrew Schaap, CEO, Aligned

financing led predominantly by ING. This is the first U.S. data center sus-

client using Aligned’s data centres

tainability-linked financing and also

which saw its traditional 6pm to 3am

one of the largest private debt raises

peak capacity shift as schools closed

in data center history.

and the workforce headed home.

For Aligned’s customers, its modu06

billion-dollar sustainability-linked

Previously, after joining Aligned in 2017, Schaap struck a deal with

lar, dynamic and highly scalable data

Macquarie Infrastructure and Real

solutions came into their own. And

Assets (MIRA) (“not your traditional

its finance partners have allowed the

private equity”) to recapitalise the

Dallas-based company to innovate its

business. “This is a capital-intensive

supply chain to meet the accelerated

business. So, you have to have capital

delivery needs of customers, specifi-

partners that are highly capable of

cally in the hyperscale space.

understanding what the business

Another sunny day in Aligned’s fair-weathered pandemic came in September, when it closed a

looks like.”

Traditionally, MIRA invests in infrastructure such as roads, bridges and

CEO Andrew Schaap Discusses Aligned’s Adaptive Data Centers CLICK TO WATCH

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07 highways. Aligned was the operating

leverage that buying power to get

group’s first foray into infrastructure

the best outcome out of the suppli-

of the digital kind. The entity saw

ers. What we did, essentially, was

a clear understanding that in order

approach the supply chain differently

to compete with the buying power

by deploying capital and committing

afforded to publicly traded Fortune

to capacity.”

500 data brands, Aligned needs to be

“Not everybody can do this. The pub-

able to work the angles. Schaap and

licly traded providers have to explain

his team laser-focused the business,

every dollar they spend to Wall Street,

including flipping the traditional data

and get a return on it within a set period

center supply chain / vendor-managed

of time – or they get penalised.”

inventory (VMI) on its head.

“We did it essentially to counteract

“But because of Macquarie, our other capital partners and our business

scale. Those [Fortune 500] guys have

model, we were able to essentially

buying power with scale and they

look at the supply chain and be bullish www.a l i gne de ne r g y . com

Munters brings over six decades of innovation to its partnership with Aligned Energy Munters has been developing innovative, energy efficient climate control solutions for over 60 years, and Data Center cooling is a market segment that is very active right now. DC President Michael Gantert explains why as the industry leader in energy efficient climate control solutions, Munters expertise in data center cooling helps Aligned Energy meet growth demands Munters has a long history in delivering innovative, energy efficient climate control solutions. Started in Sweden over 60 years ago, Munters has deployed its technologies in a host of industries.

Munters Data Centers (DC) business, managed

by President Michael Gantert, is a key partner for Aligned Energy. Munters has worked closely with Aligned Energy to manufacture and advance the development of their unique cooling solution.

Munters entered the data center cooling market 12 years ago and has developed a number of cooling solutions that have been widely adopted and are critical to the efficient operation of many data centers.

When Aligned Energy got in touch to discuss a partnership, it wasn’t to purchase an existing solution, but rather to further develop their own cooling solution and manufacture a product that would reduce equipment lead time and cost, while also improving reliability.

“For a data center company to come to us with a pre-designed cooling solution and ask us to manufacture it, while also making it better and easier to install, that was a bit unique from what we’ve experienced over the past 12 years.”

Michael Gantert, Munters

“Aligned Energy recognized in Munters our history of innovation, engineering expertise, and flexible manufacturing capabilities. They saw those aspects of Munters as key to support their growing business.

Our relationship is a true partnership. We share a lot of information including technical engineering details and manufacturing techniques for their cooling solutions.”

“There has certainly been a lot of collaboration between the two companies over the past few years. They have a great cooling technology.

We have embraced that, and we really feel Munters has provided value to Aligned Energy by understanding the technology and continuing to develop and enhance it for them.”

“We’ve worked very closely with Aligned Energy and we’ve been provided selective visibility into their pipeline, which allows us to plan and prepare to best meet their needs. We continuously assess equipment inventory and component stock levels as well as things we can do within our manufacturing footprint to shorten lead times to support Aligned Energy’s growth.”

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ALIGNED

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on where the market is going, where we think the market’s going and have manufacturers hold on to the inventory inside their warehouse or factory before shipping it on a just-in-time basis. We’ve done very well with that over the years; and it has proven effective during the pandemic. We had a handful of transactions that we were able to win on speed of delivery and our ability to get a customer moved in faster than the competition.”

“We didn’t start the VMI because of the pandemic, but It worked in our favor

“ Our customers have been able to see just how effective adaptive infrastructure and our Delta3 cooling technology are when it comes to seamlessly addressing those peaks in demand” — Andrew Schaap, CEO, Aligned

in a big, big way because we already

allocate manufacturing to quieter peri-

had that gear forward committed.”

ods, keeping productivity stable, and

By ordering before equipment was

workers off furlough.

needed, Aligned was able to offer

“What we try to do is to stabi-

manufacturers flexibility over their

lize the throughput in the factory.

throughput. Rather than a lumpy

Everyone we’ve spoken to has had

work-to-order production schedule,

phenomenal feedback about what

with workers on triple overtime when

we’re doing because it solves a

demand surges, the company’s pre-

big problem for them – removing

ordering allowed manufacturers to

the lumpiness.”

E X E C U T I V E P R O FILE :

Andrew Schaap Title: CEO

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Location: United States

Industry: Information Technology & Services Andrew Schaap is CEO of Aligned, dedicated to accelerating business growth by delivering data center solutions with industry-leading technology and adaptive infrastructure. Since beginning his tenure, Schaap has exponentially grown revenues, completed several successful capital raisings, and cultivated an ecosystem of innovation that advances Aligned’s commitment to reducing the social, economic and environmental impact of the digital era. He is a data centre, IT, private equity and real estate executive with more than 20 years of complex transactional experience and multidisciplinary senior leadership. Prior to joining Aligned, he held numerous leadership positions over an 11-year period with Digital Realty Trust. www.a l i gne de ne r g y . com

We are Franklin-Griffith, a USESI Company

Project management and vendor managed inventory experts dedicated to exceeding the goals of our customers. www.franklinelectric.net | www.usesi.com |

: Franklin-Griffith Co. | email Matt Venancio, VP of Sales: M.Venancio@frankelec.com

It’s just one example of Schaap’s approach to partnerships, which revolves around listening to partners,

their problem is our problem. So, we have to be mindful of their problem.”

While Macquarie’s financing allows

understanding their challenges, and

Aligned to game the supply chain, its

earning their respect. “Sometimes

debt financing with ING has beefed

2013

Year founded

90

Number of employees

up its efforts to continue pursuing a strategic vision in sustainability.

“On the debt side, we’re very pleased with the first sustainability-linked financing done in the United States.

And ING really drove that with us and has just been a great partner.”

“We can be sustainable, have great uptime and reliability, and provide great service and support to our

“ Because of Macquarie, our other capital partners and our business model, we were able to essentially look at the supply chain and be bullish on where the market is going” — Andrew Schaap, CEO, Aligned

customers. We do all three and we do them in a thoughtful, meaningful way. So, we’re delighted with it and looking forward to showcasing our sustainability even more. We’re doing it because our customers care about it and it’s part of our DNA.” Schaap gesticulates towards a 40-inch monitor on the wall where he can survey the top line performance metrics in real time. Unsurprisingly, he’s big on data, and Aligned is keen to pass on its data to help clients. “If we sell a customer a megawatt, let’s give them

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ALIGNED

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“ We had a handful of transactions that we were able to win on speed of delivery and our ability to get a customer moved in faster than the competition” — Andrew Schaap, CEO, Aligned

thing to do. No stranded capacity; that’s

the tools to figure out how to use as

ing to where the puck is going to

much of that megawatt as possible

be versus where it is now,” asking

because that’s the most sustainable

Schaap to gaze into his crystal ball is

the best thing for the environment.”

For someone who is always “skat-

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to open a window to a new genera-

of dollars – or Euros or Yen – that

tion of data technology.

are being put into it is incredibly high

“Everybody is thinking about energy

because that’s the new gold rush, to

storage right now. How do you get

figure out how to store energy. And

as creative as you possibly can on

on the data side, we use a lot, so we’re

energy storage? That’s the number

really paying attention to what’s next.”

one problem with green energy: it’s cyclical. The sun, wind, hydro, all those things are somewhat cyclical.

Adaptive Data Centers

And so, you’ve got to find ways to store the energy. And so, the amount www.a l i gne de ne r g y . com

Adaptive Data Centers

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