APC Launching New Partner Certification To Drive Software Services

APC by Schneider Electric unveiled plans to launch a new software certification for partners to help the channel drive data center and edge services through its software-as-a-service (SaaS) EcoStruxure IT platform.

“This is extremely exciting because this certification walks our partners through our newest offer EcoStruxure IT,” said Chelsie Ritarossi, manager of channel field marketing and enablement for APC by Schneider Electric in an interview with CRN at XChange 2019 in Las Vegas this week. The event is hosted by CRN parent The Channel Company. “It’s about our connected products or things like our UPS systems, all the way through our software platform. It’s great. Partners actually get really good exposure to what the software looks like, how to use it and how to essentially fold it into their practice.”

APC by Schneider Electric’s new Software Digital Services certification will become available globally to channel partners sometime between the end of March and early April, Ritarossi said.

[Related: Scale Computing, APC Jointly Develop HCI-Based ‘Micro Data Center In A Box’ Offering]

EcoStruxure IT is a data center infrastructure management SaaS solution infused with predictive analytics, remote monitoring and lifecycle management capabilities to give partners visibility into customers' physical infrastructure to improve performance and efficiently, as well as reduce cost. The platform not only helps partners manage and monitor data centers, but also distributed environments, according to Ritarossi.

The company is trying to onboard new solution providers through the Software Digital Services certification by offering incentives such as a free node to EcoStruxure software.

“This certification comes with specific benefits. Things like a free node to the EcoStruxure software so you can deploy it in your own environment and be able to test it out and showcase it to customers,” said Ritarossi.

EcoStruxure IT enables partners to quickly give customers feedback from data collected and assessments on various physical assets such as uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs), cooling units, intelligent power distribution units (PDUs), physical security and emergency management, to name a few.

Ritarossi said APC by Schneider Electric partners should be pumped about the new software service certification in 2019. “We’re taking everything from what we call the digital edge and incorporating it into one,” she said. “It’s really great and impactful.”