PDI Energizes Virginia's Top Industry Knowledge Exchange

RICHMOND, VA--(Marketwire - Sep 13, 2012) -   Energizing local presence of the market's leading knowledge exchange for those who design, build, operate and maintain key enterprise information infrastructures, Power Distribution, Inc. (PDI) today announced their participation in the founding of Central Virginia's 7x24 Exchange Chapter. PDI is a Smiths Interconnect business and leading provider of mission-critical power distribution equipment for data centers, alternative energy, industrial and commercial power markets.

"7x24 Exchange International is excited about the formation of the Central Virginia Chapter. Virginia has a high concentration of data centers and companies operating these data centers will benefit greatly from the education, networking, and information sharing provided by the 7x24 Exchange Central Virginia Chapter," said Bob Cassiliano, chairman and CEO, 7x24 Exchange International.

Several companies are responsible for the founding and support of the Central Virginia Chapter of 7x24 Exchange: PDI, Syska Hennesy, Chapman Co, DC Technology, Inc., Truland Electrical, Peak 10 Data Center, and QTS, just to name a few.

"7x24 Exchange is all about collaboration and communication. It's our goal to offer an educational forum where industry leaders across a broad range of disciplines -- from technology and information services to facilities, engineering and real estate -- can solve some of the most difficult challenges facing enterprise information infrastructures," said Eric Layman, president, 7x24 Exchange Central Virginia Chapter. 

"The dynamics of today's data center are changing at a dizzying pace -- as companies now have more data to manage, new computing models to incorporate, and deeper security threats. This puts greater emphasis on power and how to handle data center energy requirements," said Dave Mulholland, Vice President of Marketing, Service at PDI. "We look forward to adding our market insight to the already strong 7x24 Exchange brand -- helping customers solve their complex power requirements"

With nearly two dozen chapters across North America, the 7x24 Exchange is committed to improving end-to-end reliability across business-critical infrastructures by promoting an open dialogue to members. The group envisions being the largest organization of its type with target market share of 25% or more among the Top 1,000 organizations where reliability is critical to successful operations. 

Eric Layman continued, "We want to keep our members ahead of the curve -- providing the highest levels of uninterrupted infrastructure support. Membership is very selective, as we only want the best ideas to move the exchange forward. That's why PDI and our other founding companies are such a good fit."

In addition to forums, 7x24 Exchange also produces a number of key events throughout the year. The group also publishes "7x24 Exchange Magazine," issued every spring and fall. 

The Central Virginia chapter is holding its inaugural meeting on September 19, 2012, at the Peak 10 Data Center in Richmond, Virginia. To learn more about the 7x24 Exchange Central Virginia Chapter view our video, join us on LinkedIn or visit our website: www.7x24CentralVA.com

About Power Distribution, Inc.
Founded in 1978, PDI is a leading provider of power distribution equipment and services. PDI, part of Smiths Interconnect, is headquartered out of Virginia with additional manufacturing and engineering facilities in California and Michigan. The PDI, Marelco, and Onyx Power branded products cover a wide range of customized power solutions for data centers, wind, solar and other alternative energy, commercial, and industrial applications.

About Smiths Interconnect
Smiths Interconnect is a leader in technically differentiated electronic and radio frequency products that connect, protect and control critical systems for the wireless telecommunications, aerospace, defence, space, medical, rail, test and industrial markets. It is part of Smiths Group, a global leader in applying advanced technologies for markets in threat and contraband detection, energy, medical devices, communications and engineered components. Smiths Group employs around 23,000 people in more than 50 countries.