Schneider Electric on Tuesday held technical sessions in various cities across the world, including Lagos, to equip its partners with advanced technology to enhance their competitiveness.

The hybrid event on digital transformation was themed, “The New-Age Solution Provider: Channel Partners Transforming for a Digital — First World.”

Ziad Youssef, Vice President, IT Division (MEA), Schneider Electric, said COVID-19 propelled a shift towards a digital economy as end-user organisations were ramping up digital transformation efforts to meet increasing demands.

The sessions focused on EcoStructure, data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of things (IoT), cloud, drones among others.

Youssef called on Schneider Electric partners to enhance their portfolios, embrace a digital-first approach to business and leverage advanced technology to drive critical business outcomes.

“Clearly, digitisation has become… I will not say the new normal because it has always been there, but I think the pandemic has accelerated it.

“It is a reality, we clearly now need to move faster.

“So, Schneider is clearly working with all its partners from the alliance side to integrators of the ecosystem on embracing the impact on our customers,” he said.

According to him, electrification is going to intensify further because there are lots of initiatives clearly that will drive more need for electricity.

“Today, it is seen in technology, electrical vehicles, as well as in manufacturing that would be accelerating,” he said.

Natalya Makarochkina, Senior Vice President, Secure Power Division, Schneider Electric, said at the organisation there were lots of solutions.

She said EcoStructure was not only for digital centres but provided edge solutions and digitisation to customers; making and enabling them to lead in the world.

Michel Arres, Vice President, IT Channel & Alliances, Secure Power International, Schneider Electri said digitisation was disrupting efficiency and sustainability.

He noted that Schneider Electric and its partners were configuring about 80,000 data centres a year, with about 70 gigawatts capacity configured.

According to Arres, the company has lots of digital tools to help its partners create integrated solutions – whether it is a server, a power system, a cooling solution, or a complete data centre.

He said although there were about 39,000 data centres globally, the challenge was the 7 million plus edge locations that needed to be built.

He encouraged Schneider Electric partners to take advantage of this opportunity, noting that the company was there to support them in this regard.

Arres said the event provided a platform to discuss how Schneider Electric’s partners could create new revenue streams leveraging the company’s vast portfolio of software and digital services for the edge.

He said this also helped the partners discover the critical competencies that modern technology providers needed to have at their disposal.

He added that this included advanced tech-based portfolios, new engagement models, and deeper skills — to effectively address their customers’ digital needs.