Eaton Looks to Accelerate Digital Transformation with New Platform

Eaton, the global electrical and industrial power management software provider, has just released a platform that it says unites asset management, IT, operational technology device monitoring, power quality metrics and other capabilities under a single native application.

It acts as a portfolio of digital solutions to help accelerate the digital transformation process, said Mike Jackson, global director of product, data center, and distributed IT software at Eaton, who we recently caught up with to talk about how the tools might impact the channel.

Eaton’s Mike Jackson

“We’ve effectively combined the functionality of three point solutions – data center infrastructure management (DCIM) and electrical power monitoring system (EPMS) software, along with software for monitoring, managing, controlling, and automating IT assets at edge locations –into a single digital platform that is scalable based on needs,” Jackson remarked.

Eaton’s latest is a part of the firm’s digital platform – the Brightlayer Data Centers suite – a platform that looks to accelerate digital transformation endeavors.

Accelerating the Digital Transformation Experience

Jackson conveyed that the suite of tools could furnish what he calls a “streamlined way for customers to navigate their digital transformation voyage.”

He adds that there is an “easy upgrade path to add more functionality in the future by applying an updated license key, eliminating the need to migrate data, change or integrate multiple software platforms.”

All this could very well decode various real-world challenges for those who have yet to migrate to the cloud. According to Pluralsight’s 2023 State of Cloud report, 70% of organizations report that more than half of their infrastructure resides in the cloud.

Nearly half (49%) of companies said they are “actively moving more of their data to the cloud,” hinting at room in the market for further growth. That could be in the partner sphere, among considerable other areas, especially among the crowd of partners in the business of digital transformation.

“Operators need a way to manage and monitor all the assets under their watch – in the gray space, white space, and the edge – and do so to get the most out of their infrastructure,” he added.

Jackson states that this was historically achieved through point solutions that offer dedicated functionality for specific applications.

“While these have worked well, they are no longer sufficient to provide the visibility and integrations operators need into their increasingly complex ecosystem of IT and OT (operational technology) assets,” Jackson said.

Big Breaks for Channel Partners

Jackson told Channel Futures that the primary Eaton partners who might profit from the fresh solutions are value-added resellers (VARs) and managed service providers (MSPs).

“For VARs, partners can leverage the platform to create unique solutions by bundling our software with distributed power equipment to increase margins,” he said.

But there are also MSPs, whom Jackson says stand to gain plenty if they combine the firm’s distributed IT performance management software with existing remote monitoring and management solutions, effectively creating unexplored services for their distributed IT clients — further driving other revenue streams.

“[Channel partners] can also offer disaster avoidance services to protect client infrastructure during abnormal operating conditions – such as power outages and surges – by gracefully shutting down IT infrastructure before data corruption occurs or migrating virtual machines (VMs) to a different host,” Jackson noted.