Hitachi and Mission Critical Group (MCG) have signed a memorandum of understanding establishing a strategic partnership focused on jointly developing solutions to expand Hitachi's HMAX Data Centre offering, according to Data Centre Magazine. The deal aims to tackle extended lead times for electrical equipment, which have become a source of delay in data center construction as AI-driven demand grows.
MCG, which operates more than 18 manufacturing facilities across North America designing power modules, switchgear and backup systems, will work with Hitachi Energy to provide end-to-end power infrastructure solutions for data center operators. The partnership will also integrate Hitachi's digital technologies, including data collection and AI analytics, into MCG's modular power equipment, with planned solution areas covering equipment monitoring, predictive maintenance and energy management optimization.
"AI is accelerating the need for data centre infrastructure that is faster to deploy, more intelligent and built to perform at scale," said Jeff Drees, CEO of MCG. "By combining Hitachi's global energy and digital capabilities with MCG's expertise in modular power solutions and medium- and low-voltage infrastructure, we believe we can accelerate time-to-power while delivering greater visibility, efficiency and reliability throughout the data centre lifecycle."
Hitachi said demand is increasing for modular data centers that standardize design, manufacturing and testing in factory environments while cutting on-site construction and commissioning time, pointing to a market growing at around 20% annually. Jun Taniguchi, Senior Vice President and Executive Officer, CEO of Strategic SIB Business Unit for Hitachi, said the companies will pursue cross-selling opportunities across their global customer bases and develop modular data center projects together, adding that Hitachi is working through HMAX "to create a new operating model that optimises infrastructure across the entire data centre from the power grid to IT equipment."