IT Channel Perspectives: The voice of the Schneider Electric partner community Schneider Electric

In this 20-minute discussion, Lee Dutton, Group Sales Director - Misco UK and Maeve Fox, IT Digital Channel & Program Director – Europe at Schneider Electric cover the challenges experienced by UK Partner Misco during 2020, how the APC Partner program has helped them to identify and capitalize on emerging trends, while offering them increased marketing, sales, and enablement support in the wake of COVID-19.

Key takeaways and learning points from this podcast include;
• How to get postponed projects going again post-lockdown
• Why creating a digital journey is essential to move with the market
• How software can support your sales cycle
• Why a strong partner network is pivotal to profitability in 2021

Plus further insights from Misco UK - www.misco.co.uk

During the last twelve months the retail sector has experienced dramatic changes. The pandemic has forced the closure of many high street stores, while other businesses, like supermarkets, pharmacies and online retailers have experienced a surge in growth. A recent report from Fujitsu states that Coronavirus has had both a positive and negative impact on the sector, and is accelerating digital transformation within the Global Retail Industry. In fact more than 70% of respondents agree that Digital Transformation is an essential part of Retail technology.

In our latest podcast, Peter Noren, Senior Sales Specialist - Data Center & SAP Solutions at Fujitsu Sweden AB and Marcelo Pizzato, Regional Account Manager Schneider Electric discuss retail digital transformation, and some of the ways that channel partners are collaborating to help customers to adapt and utilize technology to create a competitive, market edge.

Key discussion points and takeaways from this podcast include:

- The positive and negative impacts of the pandemic on the retail sector, and how Fujitsu have directly helped to support customers during this time

- The challenges associated with networks and business-critical IT infrastructure and whether these are synonymous with retail

- Insights into specific use cases within retail digital transformation, gaining insight into how Fujitsu customers are utilising technology to transform digital operations and in-store customer experiences

- How Schneider Electric is working with its channel partners to simplify edge computing infrastructure deployments and drive revenue within the retail segment.

Plus further insights from Fujitsu Sweden - www.fujitsu.com

The last sixteen months have been filled with tremendous challenges. The global pandemic, social unrest and national disasters have impacted every corner of the planet. People have quickly adjusted to new ways of working, while making significant changes to their home and social lives. But disruption can often bring out the best from companies, challenging them to embrace new strategies and drive positive outcomes. With challenge often comes a new opportunity for innovation and agility.

According to a survey of distributors, solution providers, business users and venture capitalists by the Global Distribution Technology Council in September 2019, the top trends that will impact distribution through 2025 include security, AI and machine learning, cloud, IoT, big data and analytics.

In our latest podcast, Timothy Suhling, VP of Global Business Intelligence at Ingram Micro and Giles Pattison, IT Channel Marketing and Strategy Director, Schneider Electric, Europe discuss how partners can benefit from strategic business intelligence tools and data science to identify new customers, uncover new market opportunities and accelerate growth.

Key discussion points and takeaways from this podcast include:
o The new trends driving digital service models
o How Ingram Micro has been supporting its reseller partners during the last year
o How strategic business intelligence tools and data science help IT solutions providers identify new customers, uncover new market opportunities and accelerate growth.

Plus further insights from Ingram Micro: https://corp.ingrammicro.com/

The pandemic has highlighted the fundamental role that mission-critical digital infrastructure plays in the business world, enabling organizations to maintain operational continuity, while guaranteeing security and uptime. But with a growing remote workforce and many businesses accelerating their digital transformation strategies, managing greater volumes of IT at the edge is fast becoming a major pain point for customers.

But the channel has seen a growing trend of expert partners stepping in to bridge the skills gap and offer end-users support via remote management and on-site servicing.

The Uptime Institute’s 10th annual data center survey found that outages are occurring with disturbing frequency and are becoming more damaging and expensive. One third of survey participants admitted to experiencing a major outage in the last 12 months, and one in six claimed it had cost them more than $1m (+€850K).

What’s interesting is that 75% of respondents said that their most recent incident could have been prevented with better management, training and improved processes, creating a compelling business case for power protection and remote management.

In episode four of our IT Channel Perspectives podcast series, Angel Castaño, Director Técnico Eficiencia Energética, Cad&Lan Spain and Ana Carolina Cardoso Guilhen, Channel Director Iberia, Schneider Electric, discuss some of the steps that companies are taking to help prevent downtime from power and IT outages, the transition to remote management and how new digital service models are driving revenue and adding considerable value to customers.

Key discussion points and takeaways from this podcast include:

-How Cad&Lan has been supporting its customers during the last year

-New developments driving remote monitoring, and how organizations are utilizing these management tools to gain a competitive advantage

-Steps that companies are taking to help prevent downtime from power and IT outages

-How to enable customers to generate new recurring revenue from digital services.

Plus further insights from Cad&Lan: https://www.cadlan.com/

La pandemia ha puesto de relieve el papel fundamental que desempeña la infraestructura digital crítica en el mundo empresarial, lo que permite a las organizaciones mantener la continuidad operativa, a la vez que garantiza la seguridad y el tiempo de actividad. Pero con empleados trabajando de forma remota en crecimiento y muchas empresas que aceleran sus estrategias de transformación digital, administrar mayores volúmenes de IT en el Edge se está convirtiendo rápidamente en un importante problema para los clientes. Pero el canal IT ha visto una tendencia creciente de partners expertos que intervienen para cerrar la brecha de habilidades y ofrecer soporte a los usuarios finales a través de la gestión remota y el servicio on-site.

La décima encuesta anual de centros de datos del Uptime Institute descubrió que las interrupciones ocurren con una frecuencia inquietante y se están volviendo más dañinas y costosas. Un tercio de los participantes de la encuesta admitió haber experimentado una interrupción importante en los últimos 12 meses, y uno de cada seis afirmó que les había costado más de 1 millón de dólares (+ € 850K).

En el episodio cinco de nuestra serie de podcasts IT Channel Perspectives, Angel Castaño, Director Técnico Eficiencia Energética, Cad & Lan España y Ana Carolina Cardoso Guilhen, Channel Director Iberia, Schneider Electric, analizan algunos de los pasos que están dando las empresas para ayudar a prevenir el tiempo de inactividad de la energía y los cortes de IT, la transición a la gestión remota y cómo los nuevos modelos de servicios digitales están generando ingresos y añadiendo un valor considerable a los clientes.

Los puntos clave del debate y las conclusiones de este podcast incluyen:
● Cómo Cad & Lan ha apoyado a sus clientes durante el último año.
● Nuevos desarrollos que impulsan la monitorización remota y cómo las organizaciones utilizan estas herramientas de gestión para obtener una ventaja competitiva.
● Pasos que las empresas están dando para ayudar a prevenir el tiempo de inactividad debido a cortes de energía y de IT.
● Cómo permitir que los clientes generen nuevos ingresos recurrentes a partir de servicios digitales.

Increased levels of automation, advanced robotics, AI and machine learning are driving a step-change within smart manufacturing. Recent research from Gartner shows that 79 zettabytes of data will be generated via the IoT 2025 and 75% of all enterprise data will be created and processed at the edge.

With growing levels of complexity, today’s industrial applications demand secure, on-site computing systems that offer users high levels of security, low latency connectivity and, above all, resilience. These technologies are helping to increase productivity and performance, and using data to make informed, real-time operational decisions.

In episode six of our IT Channel Perspectives podcast series, we are joined by Andy Smith, EMEA OT Partner Alliances at Arrow's intelligent solutions business and James Mealor, OT Channel Manager Europe, Schneider Electric to discuss the convergence of IT and OT, industrial edge computing and the acceleration of digital transformation within the industrial manufacturing sector.

Key discussion points and takeaways from this podcast include;

● The business opportunities surrounding the convergence of IT in OT
● Why deploying secure infrastructure at the edge is essential for the future of industrial IoT applications
● The skills and technical expertise channel partners need to acquire to support end-users
● How Schneider Electric and Arrow Electronics Intelligent Solutions are working together to meet customer demands within the industrial space

You can learn more about Arrow Intelligent Solutions at www.arrow.com/ais