The energy management integration train is picking up steam.

Today Power Assure announced that its EM/4 software has been certified for use with Universal Electric’s STARLINE Critical Power Monitor meters, which are found in the latter company’s power STARLINE Busway and Raceway power distribution systems distribution equipment for data centers. What does this mean?

Essentially, the Power Assure dashboard will now provide energy usage visibility into STARLINE power systems hardware. It’s a handy capability, to be sure, but as Power Assure’s VP of Business Development, Alex Fielding, explains, the new-found capability can have more profound effects. “By gathering the overwhelming amount of data from multiple facilities and IT sources and synthesizing this data into useful business information, we give our customers the knowledge to improve the efficiency, capacity and performance of their data centers,” he states.

For Universal Electric, this marks yet another team-up with an energy management software company. Last month, the company certified Raritan Power IQ, the latest sign that companies are positioning themselves for a healthy slice of the growing green data center pie. And considering that big companies like Scheider Electric are making energy management software cornerstones of their power distribution and backup offerings, look for more interoperability deals to surface as vendors vie for data center business.