On September 7, Power Assure, Inc., a developer of power management software for large enterprises, clinched a strategic investment and development agreement with In-Q-Tel (IQT)— an independent, not-for-profit organization that delivers innovative technology solutions to support the missions of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the U.S. intelligence community (IC)at large.
Most of the companies that work with IQT have never done business with the U.S. government before. From its origin in 1947, the CIA has operated at the cutting edge of science and technology. With the U-2 spy plane to the CORONA photoreconnaissance satellite to their credit, the CIA's "Wizards of Langley" earned a reputation for bold innovation and risk taking, working in advance of the private sector and other branches of government. In 1998, the CIA identified technology as a top strategic priority, and set out a radical plan to create a new venture that would help increase the Agency's access to private sector innovation. Arlington, Virginia-based In-Q-Tel was chartered in February 1999 by a group of private citizens at the request of the Director of Central Intelligence and with the support of the U.S. Congress. IQT was tasked with building a bridge between the Agency and a new set of technology innovators.
More than 70 percent of the 150 firms that have partnered with IQT to date are startups that have developed commercially-focused technologies that will provide strong, near-term advantages (within 36 months) to the intelligence community mission—including the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (DHS S&T), in addition to the CIA.
Power Assure, a four-year-old Santa Clara, California-based firm, attracted In-Q-Tel attention with its EM/4 Data Center Energy Management platform—which provides actionable, real-time and historical insight into power usage and other key performance indicators (KPIs) for the data center; along with the means to analyze, optimize, and automate energy efficiency while maintaining service levels. According to the company, the platform enables data center managers to:
- Quickly visualize and identify inefficiencies in a comprehensive way,
- Maximize available space and power,
- Extend the useful life of the data center,
- Cut on-going power consumption by an average of 50 percent, and
- Shift load within and across sites.
“We are very pleased to be working with IQT,” said Brad Wurtz, president and CEO, Power Assure. “This partnership speaks to the value our software delivers, as federal agencies and commercial data centers alike focus on cost-effective ways to reduce power consumption and enhance data center efficiency.”
“Power Assure is an important addition to our strategic investment portfolio,” said William Strecker, executive vice president of Architecture & Engineering and CTO of IQT. “Power Assure’s software will offer our customers in the U.S. intelligence community capabilities to drive additional efficiencies into their data centers by managing power consumption, optimizing asset utilization, and aligning power management with business processes.”
