The services opportunity is real. The decision problem is bigger.

There is a quiet shift happening across the electrical ecosystem. Product excellence once defined competitive advantage. Today, customers want more: modernization support, lifecycle expertise, digital insights, and proactive service.

The numbers confirm it. The global electrical services market is projected to grow from roughly USD 122 billion in 2023 to USD 186 billion by 2030 (Maximize Market Research). And the fastest-moving segment is not new installation. It is maintenance, repair, and modernization, already nearly 40% of market revenue as customers shift from reactive to proactive service models (Verified Market Research).

Panel builders and electrical contractors sit at the center of this shift.

But here’s the part no one talks about.

The biggest barrier is not capability. It is not resources. And it is not market uncertainty.

It is decision making.

One line from IDC captures it with surprising clarity:

“Speed isn’t a capacity problem. It’s a decision defensibility problem.”

The more I work with partners exploring services, the more this proves true. The rush toward services is real, but speed stalls long before a customer proposal is drafted. Speed stalls when choices are unclear, ROI is vague, or the strategy cannot stand up to simple questions like “Why this service?” or “Why now?”

Why is the services opportunity so real for panel builders and contractors?

Three market forces are converging, and each one lands squarely in the workshop of a panel builder or on the job site of a contractor.

1. Aging electrical infrastructure is reaching a tipping point. Installed switchboards and LV/MV switchgears worldwide are approaching or exceeding their design life, and customers increasingly prefer life-extension strategies such as breaker retrofits, retrofills, and protection upgrades over full replacement. Every one of those projects is a service engagement, and it naturally belongs to the partner who built, installed, or maintains that equipment.
2. Digitalization is turning every panel into a service platform. With Industry 4.0 and IoT-enabled switchgear, connected LV and MV equipment now delivers real-time energy data, condition monitoring, and predictive maintenance insights. Software Defined Power takes this further: with intelligence living in software rather than fixed hardware, a panel gains new capabilities through updates, not rebuilds. The partner relationship shifts from transactional to recurring, and predictive service contracts are becoming the growth engine of the market.
3. Global demand is accelerating where partners operate. The global switchgear market alone is projected to nearly double to around USD 197 billion by 2035 (SNS Insider). Layered on top is the AI Data Center boom: the IEA projects data center electricity consumption to more than double to around 945 TWh by 2030 (IEA), and every one of those facilities runs on MV and LV distribution that must be built and serviced. The pattern holds worldwide:

• North America leads with over 34% market share as it replaces aging infrastructure; the US alone tops USD 20 billion in 2025 (SNS Insider).
• Europe, at around USD 44 billion in 2025, is accelerating on decarbonization and SF6-free digital switchgear (Market Data Forecast).
• APAC is the fastest-growing region at over 7% a year, from China’s grid build-out and Japan and South Korea’s digital switchgear to India’s grid modernization and Australia’s renewable energy zones (SNS Insider).
• MEA is expanding at close to 8.7% a year on Saudi and UAE infrastructure programs (Global Market Insights).
• South America is growing at over 8% in Brazil on renewables and industrial electrification (6Wresearch).

Everywhere, electrification is expanding faster than manufacturers alone can service the installed base. That capacity gap is the partner opportunity.

Put simply: the market is not asking whether partners should enter services. It is asking who will be ready first.

So what is slowing service ambitions down?

Think about how partners typically enter the world of services.

They see market demand rising, competitors evolving, customers asking deeper questions. What happens next? Often:

• Too many service ideas get launched at once.
• Priorities stretch wide instead of narrowing deep.
• Teams wait for full alignment rather than moving with clarity.
• Decisions get revisited mid-execution because assumptions weren’t validated.

None of this reflects lack of ambition. It reflects lack of defensible decisions. And where customers expect expertise and reliability, defensibility is everything.

How does Services Through Partners change the trajectory?

This is where Schneider Electric’s Services Through Partners approach enters the picture. It is not a program. It is not a toolkit. It is a way of helping partners remove friction from the start of their services journey, providing:

• Structured, proven service pathways, from power upgrades and switchboard modernization to condition-based maintenance
• Clear customer value logic partners can confidently stand behind
• Training and enablement to professionalize service delivery
• Business guidance rooted in global benchmarks, not guesswork
• Repeatable models that reduce complexity

It strengthens decision quality before execution begins. And when decisions are strong, momentum follows.

What do the fastest-moving partners do differently?

The partners accelerating fastest in services aren’t doing more. They’re choosing better. They share three patterns:

1. They focus on a few service offerings that matter most to their customers, starting with the installed base they already know.
2. They validate assumptions early using external data, not internal opinions.
3. They define outcomes clearly before committing teams or resources.

Clarity is their competitive advantage. Discipline is their accelerator.

So, where to begin?

• Step 1: Map your installed base. The fastest route into services runs through equipment you already built, installed, or maintain. Identify aging switchboards that are candidates for modernization, retrofit, or digital upgrades.
• Step 2: Choose one or two defensible service offerings. Resist launching a full portfolio on day one. Pick offerings where customer demand, your capability, and market growth intersect, and where you can answer “Why this service? Why now?” with confidence.
• Step 3: Build capability through structured enablement. Use the training, certification, and business guidance in Schneider Electric’s Services Through Partners program to professionalize delivery before you scale.

In conclusion

We are standing in one of the most dynamic moments for the energy and electrical industry. With a services market heading toward USD 186 billion, an aging installed base demanding modernization, and digitalization opening recurring revenue models, the opportunity for panel builders and contractors has never been clearer.

But only partners who move with decisions that hold will capture it.

The partners who will lead the services shift are not the ones who try everything. They are the ones who choose intentionally, validate thoroughly, and execute confidently. Services Through Partners offers a foundation for exactly that: a way to transform ambition into action by strengthening the decisions that shape every service offering.

Because speed in services business does not come from doing more.

It comes from defending what matters and letting the rest go.

Ready to explore your services journey? Contact your Schneider Electric partner representative or visit the www.se.com to learn more about Services Through Partners program.