Getting to Know Your Customers Better Pays Off

As a provider of IT equipment or services, it’s always good to have a deep understanding of your customers–what their business is all about, the goals they’re trying to achieve and how IT helps them get there. It’s with that in mind that APC by Schneider Electric has launched the Software & Digital Services Certification–to give partners a deep understanding of how our latest offerings can help your customers.

This certification will bring you up to speed on the whole Schneider Electric “Certainty in a Connected World” story, as well as offerings including EcoStruxure IT Expert, NetBotz, UPS monitoring solutions and more.

Video Series: Watch and Learn

Getting certified is quick and entirely painless. We’ve created a series of videos, most less than 5 minutes long; it takes less than an hour to view them all. But that’s enough to give you a thorough understanding of offerings like EcoStruxure IT Expert, and how it can be used to monitor your distributed IT edge environments. You’ll learn about the visibility it provides and how best to leverage the tool with your customer base.

EcoStruxure IT Expert provides capabilities such as a UPS health check, enabling you to determine when a UPS battery needs replacement, as well as when a UPS is nearing end of life. It also enables you to perform a comprehensive assessment of your customers’ IT environments and find any areas of exposure–which you can then address.

The certification also covers NetBotz, our physical security and environmental monitoring system that can help customers keep an eye on remote facilities, such as edge data centers that have no IT personnel on site.

Benefits of Certification for Partners

Gaining a deeper understanding of these offerings will help you be better positioned to have meaningful conversations with your customers around the benefits of our solutions. It’ll also help you position the various offers most effectively, so customers understand the importance of a single connected story and how it can help them achieve goals such as increased uptime and greater efficiency.

The certification also comes with these additional benefits for partners:

EcoStruxure IT Expert provides visibility into various assets in a distributed IT edge environment. It can be used to monitor all UPSs, power and cooling systems, as well as generate alarms to proactively monitor and manage critical events. .

EcoStruxure IT Expert allows partners to offer a monitoring service for customers, creating a predictable monthly recurring revenue stream. And it helps customers reduce maintenance costs, because they’re only making repairs on equipment that truly needs it. At the same time, it helps them avoid unplanned downtime by alerting them to equipment that is in danger of failing.

Access Certification Training Now

To access the Software & Digital Services Certification training, simply log into your personal partner page. Achieving certification also enables you to move up through our Channel Partner Program.  For example, if anyone in your organization achieves the Software & Digital Services Certification, you’ll be eligible to become a Select Level Partner.

If you’re not yet a partner, you can become one simply by creating a Personal Page and completing a Partner Profile. If you’re already registered, click here to login to your APC Partner Page to view the training. You’ll soon be on your way to increased profitability.

Larry Hann is the Director of Digital Services Programs for APC by Schneider Electric. He has been with APC for over 20 years and during this time he has supported North American business relationships as manager for Tier 2 OEM partners and then the Tier 1 IT Distribution team. Additionally, Larry has held various positions with APC’s Government Channel Partners, Strategic Partners and National Account businesses. He holds a BMSE in Material Engineering from Virginia Tech and a MSE in Materials Science and Engineering from Clemson University.

 This guest blog is part of a Channel Futures sponsorship.