Daikin Applied Europe Makes the Green Choice

Daikin Applied Europe has been a global leader in industrial and commercial air conditioning solutions for more than 50 years. With Pure Storage FlashArray™, the manufacturer ensures high-speed access to data throughout its operations. Its more than 1,000 employees in three manufacturing sites plus commercial offices in Germany can count on high performance and availability of the systems they need, with Evergreen//Forever™ delivering the latest upgrades without disruption.

The mission of the Daikin Applied Europe IT department is to support the people and technology that contribute to the company’s solutions and growth. Many systems rely on data, from technical designs and logistics to predictive failure analysis and machine optimization in manufacturing facilities. All of this data demands flexible and high-performance storage.

The IT department has relied upon various flash storage solutions since 2013. But during a regular IT technology refresh cycle, the storage failed to meet expectations, causing performance issues that affected many employees.

"The request for a storage refresh came very quickly, so we didn’t have time to thoroughly evaluate proposals," recalls Davide Bombarda, IT Manager at Daikin Applied Europe. "We asked our supplier at the time for a solution based on specific requirements, but when we went into production, it fell short."

While looking for an effective alternative to legacy storage, a proposal from Pure Storage and partner Harpa proved to be the breakthrough Bombarda needed.

"In a matter of days, we ramped up from the initial meeting to defining and implementing the proof-of-concept,” says Bombarda.

With Pure Storage FlashArray, Daikin Applied Europe reduced latency from 10ms to less than 1ms, dramatically improving performance for employees. The non-disruptive Pure Storage platform and Evergreen//Forever subscription allow the IT team to seamlessly upgrade storage without disruption to their operations.

At the same time, the flash storage saved 50 MWh of energy in 10 months, helping the company lower consumption and become a greener company.

"We deal with air conditioning, so we know how energy consumption produces heat, which must be dissipated by a cooling system that in turn consumes energy,” says Bombarda.