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As IT environments expand, there is more equipment to maintain in more dispersed locations. Dependence on the equipment grows, and so does the expectation that the technology will work as promised. However, many companies find themselves trying to manage a growing IT environment with the same amount or fewer of people, which creates a challenge.
The good news is IT solution providers can help by supporting distributed IT infrastructure. For instance, providers can take over maintenance of uninterruptible power supply (UPS) equipment, which is critical to protecting IT infrastructure in a power outage. Solution providers can ask customers what happens the day after installation, or “day two,” when selling a UPS solution. Once the equipment is installed, does the customer have the in-house expertise to maintain it, or should they engage an IT solution provider for long-term management services?
Improved UPS fleet visibility
Keeping up with all the maintenance that a distributed environment requires can be a daunting task. Consider that some IT environments cross country borders and continents. Even the largest organizations typically don’t have enough staff to allocate to every location where IT resides as edge computing environments grow into hundreds and thousands of sites.
But IT partners can gain visibility into these environments with 24/7 remote monitoring and maintenance. They can track which UPSs need attention, whether to replace a battery, a component, or the unit itself as it reaches the end of its lifecycle. Remote monitoring can deliver many productive outcomes that boost IT infrastructure uptime, including:
- Real-time alerts that trigger an immediate reaction if a piece of equipment starts to fail
- Ongoing data collection of UPS health and performance to determine a critical component, such as a battery, should be replaced proactively
Real-time visibility helps keep the USP fleet healthy and up-to-date. Often, customers lose track of how many UPSs they have and where they all reside. This can lead to unintended consequences. A UPS can stay in place passed its useful lifecycle, and the customer may not realize it until a power failure occurs and the UPS doesn’t work.
Long-term UPS cost savings
Remote monitoring helps end-user organizations save money. Customers can reallocate IT staff to more strategic work rather than having them “put out fires” when equipment fails. In addition, expensive truck rolls are minimized. An estimated 25% of truck rolls require a follow-up because the problem isn’t solved the first time.
When a partner takes charge of a customer’s UPS fleet and leverages remote monitoring, truck rolls occur only when absolutely necessary. And the technician who is dispatched to the site knows exactly what parts to bring based on the data collected by the monitoring software.
Partners deliver further savings by standardizing a customer’s UPS fleet costs. Some customers replace batteries on a schedule – say, every three years. In some cases, they are likely replacing batteries with plenty of life left. With data collection through monitoring software, batteries are only replaced when they should be, which helps companies drive their sustainability goals by reducing waste.
Another common practice that drives up costs is when customers buy a replacement battery or UPS on their own. This can create a hodgepodge of equipment that costs more to maintain because of a lack of uniformity. It also opens the possibility that UPS components were not properly recycled, making it harder for the company to track its progress with sustainability goals.
The EcoCare option to grow your business
Schneider Electric partners now have an opportunity to provide UPS lifecycle maintenance services through EcoCare for Single-Phase UPS. The plan provides 24/7 remote monitoring into distributed IT infrastructures and, when needed, fast response with on-site intervention.
EcoCare gives partners two options – reselling the service with Schneider experts handling the remote monitoring and full-service experience with the customer, or as a managed service with partners handling the remote monitoring. The latter provides visibility into the customer’s service visibility via the mySchneider portal and insights from EcoStruxure IT Expert.
EcoCare reduces the maintenance burden on the end customer while giving IT partners new recurring revenue opportunities. Partners also can add value by helping to prevent failures and outages, thanks to remote monitoring and visibility. EcoCare is a win-win for customers and partners, enabling customers to scale their environments without adding asset lifecycle maintenance challenges to staff, and giving partners a chance to tighten the bond with customers. To learn more, access the webinar to Grow Your Business with EcoCare for Partners.
Guest Blogger: Larry Hann is the Director of Digital Services Programs Schneider Electric. He has been with Schneider Electric and APC for over 20 years and during this time he has supported North American business relationships. 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.
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