Advancements In Managing Critical Power Infrastructure With Schneider Electric
As businesses depend more on reliable power systems, understanding how to monitor and manage them has become crucial. That’s where Schneider Electric steps in with their EcoStruxure platform.
CRNtv host Sydney Neely speaks with Schneider Electric’s Larry Hann, director of channel field sales North and channel digital services strategy, and Peter Keiver, commercial software offer manager, about how EcoStruxure provides essential support for critical power infrastructure.
Segment 1: The Need for EcoStruxure in Critical Power Infrastructure
Sydney: Larry, can you start off by telling us what EcoStruxure is and why it is essential for modern businesses?
Larry: EcoStruxure is our cloud-based monitoring and management software, which is designed to give visibility into the data center and the distributed edge for physical infrastructure. So that could be UPSs, PDUs or cooling equipment. Now, to understand why this is important, we kind of need to take a step back and look at what’s going on from a macro perspective in the environment. What’s happening is that more and more data is being migrated from the data center closer to the edge. In fact, Gartner says that by 2025, 75 percent of all data created will be done outside the data center.
That technology is being brought closer to consumers, going into environments that weren’t designed for it, and the people in those environments are not technologists—they’re not really capable of supporting it. Companies are being asked to do more with less, and they’re starting to raise their hands looking for help. EcoStruxure provides a platform that allows partners to help customers manage that technology—specifically the physical infrastructure—more effectively.
Segment 2: Capabilities and Benefits of EcoStruxure
Sydney: What are the main features that make EcoStruxure stand out for partners and their clients?
Peter: Within EcoStruxure IT Expert, we are actually able to represent all of the devices that are in the customer’s environment, as long as they’re connected to the network. And that’s actually represented in the inventory tab, so they can click on that and actually see by device type, by manufacturer or even by location what they have in their environment today.
We also have reports that give you UPS health, device security and recently, sustainability. There’s a tab that talks about alarms and tells them what’s going on with their devices all the way from information alarms to critical alarms. We also have built-in features for remote management. With this, we enable partners to help their clients with critical infrastructure monitoring and management from a remote location, avoiding the need for on-site support.
Segment 3: Partnering for Success and Future Opportunities
Sydney: Larry, what opportunities does Schneider Electric offer partners to help grow their business?
Larry: All the stuff we’ve talked about brings value to a customer and a partner. A lot of customers don’t have a set budget to update their UPSs or create a day-to-support strategy. We help partners create that business need through data that drives business outcomes, lowers cost to serve and makes sustainability relevant.
Partners can bring EcoStruxure to market in a way that fits their business, from simple buy-resale to a fully managed power practice. We support them with a digital partner journey, a lifecycle rebate to enhance profitability and a dedicated service team to help them grow.
With these tools and capabilities, EcoStruxure not only enhances reliability for customers but also offers significant growth opportunities for partners. For more information on Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure platform, visit their website.