Schneider Electric spent years developing a cutting-edge partner program that would enable a channel partner to create a managed power services practice that drives net-new recurring revenue services.
At XChange+ Monday, the IT power superstar took the wraps off its new Edge Software and Digital Services Program, complete with ongoing financial rebate incentives, support tools and new certifications in a move that can add 1.5X additional revenue for a partner over the life cycle of a product.
“There is nothing like this program in the industry,” said Gail Fredrickson, director of channel marketing and strategic execution at Schneider Electric, in an interview with CRN. “It’s the first of its kind and we want to make sure our partners are guided all along the way, that they feel supported and they feel empowered to go on this new journey.”
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The program is part of the mySchneider IT Solutions Partner Program, formerly known as the APC Channel Partner Program. The new Edge Software and Digital Services Program seeks to help channel partners establish a new recurring revenue stream by offering remote monitoring and management services for their customers’ critical power infrastructure. The new program aims to give partners a massive services opportunity in the growing edge computing market.
Partners who join the program receive ongoing life-cycle rebates and training and enablement to create their own power management services practice that leverages Schneider Electric’s broad portfolio of hardware and software—from UPSes to any connected device that contains a network management card. Partners gain rebates across the life cycle of the customer engagement including attaching, monitoring, servicing and upgrading customer assets.
“Partners are evolving beyond our traditional hardware,” said Fredrickson. “Only 27 percent of channel partners so far have come over to develop this managed power practice. With that being said, part of that is because we haven’t necessarily had an offer for them until now.”
To get a managed power service practice up and running, the new program provides partners with Schneider Electric’s Partner Success Management team to support and help guide them. The company is also providing a step-by-step operational e-guide online that explains how to price offerings, train staff and have the correct documentation in place for customers.
The company is also providing two training and certification paths depending on how deep a partner wants to invest in the program.
The Select Edge Software and Digital Services certification is for partners who want a sell-through practice of simply buying and reselling Schneider Electric’s solutions and services. Partners gain access to an EcoStruxure IT Software and Digital Services offering that provides 24/7 remote monitoring as well as remote and on-site support.
The program’s Premium certification is more lucrative for partners and is designed for those looking to develop and create their own managed power services practice to drive recurring revenue services to the next level.
“Premium is for those partners who say, ‘It’s great that [the company] can do these things and I can pass it through, but this really needs to be part of my recurring revenue stream and my services offering. I want to manage this for my customers. How do I do that? What type of technical training do I need in order to be able to manage and monitoring my customers’ assets on my own?’” said Fredrickson. “We’ll have our Partner Success Management team work with you to make sure you’re successful. Having that touch and that subject matter expert alongside you is something that partners really need as they embark on this because it’s such a new type of managed service.”
The addition of managed power services adds 1.5X additional revenue over the life cycle of the product, according to Fredrickson.
To capture that additional services revenue, partners need a strong vendor portfolio of software and service solutions alongside support and education to ramp up their competency quickly, which is exactly what the new partner program was built for, she said.
Wayne St. Jacques, vice president of managed and executive services at ePlus, which ranks No. 35 on CRN’s 2020 Solution Provider 500 list, said ePlus is already leveraging Schneider Electric’s new partner program to develop a managed power services practice.
“They provided the tools, guidance and teams to incorporate the service into our portfolio and are true partners in helping us successfully expand our offerings to drive business outcomes for customers,” said St. Jacques.
Fredrickson, who has been with Schneider Electric for over a decade, said the new program was developed alongside channel partners to make it as effective as possible.
“We’re really trying to help them capture that recurring revenue, which is so important to their success,” she said. “We want partners to build this long-term business together with us. This is near and dear to my heart. I have worked on this for quite some time along with our partners, and I’m extremely excited to bring this to them.”
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