Schneider Electric has announced the appointment of Karlton Gray as its new IT Channel Director for the UK & Ireland. Karlton is a seven-year veteran of Schneider Electric’s Secure Power Division and since joining he has held numerous roles within the company, managing large-scale enterprise, corporate and e-commerce channel partners including CDW, Softcat, Comms Express, Ebuyer, CCS Media, Misco, Amazon and Bechtle.
In his new role Karlton will take charge of Schneider Electric’s IT channel sales divisions across the region and will be tasked with driving continued success of Schneider Electric’s Secure Power Division, which provides critical power protection, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), racks, enclosures, power distribution units (PDU) and cooling solutions for data centres, server rooms and edge computing environments. Further, its award-winning and vendor-agnostic EcoStruxure IT Software & Digital Services portfolio has been built with partners in mind, empowering IT solution providers and value added-resellers (VARs) to deliver advanced 24/7 remote monitoring, and remote/on-site support, for successful deployment, management, and maintenance of physical infrastructure at the edge.
Proven track record for sales growth
Karlton joined Schneider Electric as a Channel Account Manager in 2015, driving sales for APC, its flagship brand of physical infrastructure and software solutions via UK direct market resellers (DMR), VARs and traditional hardware resellers. In 2017 he was promoted to Senior Channel Account Manager, where he was responsible for establishing and managing relationships with partners to deliver growth across the UK and Northern Europe. Named APC UK Channel Account Manager of the year in 2019, he was promoted to Senior Enterprise Account Manager in early 2020 and became responsible for managing the company’s largest enterprise customers, leading a team of channel professionals to grow its infrastructure solutions business via e-commerce, reseller and corporate partner accounts.
“I’m delighted to be named as the new Channel Director for Schneider Electric in the UK and Ireland,” says Karlton Gray. “As we return to a more digital, electric world, it’s clear that partner relationships have never been more important. Throughout the pandemic, the IT, data centre and communications industries have been pivotal in helping businesses adapt to remote working, and I believe many organisations will look to retain some level of hybrid operations going forward. What’s crucial now is that we help our partners meet growing end-user demands, safely return to personal engagements and plan for the future.”
“Whether through IT modernisation programmes, the deployment of edge computing solutions or creating new digital service propositions that address end-user skills shortages, technology has provided us with a vehicle to address key business challenges in a sustainable, energy efficient and environmentally beneficial way,” he continues. “As the world’s most sustainable organisation, I’m excited to be part of a company that’s driving transformative change through our partners.”
New program to support partner growth
Launched in April this year, Schneider Electric’s Edge Software & Digital Services Program is a complete suite of benefits, support tools and certifications that enables IT solution providers to create a dedicated Managed Power Services practice. Formulated in response to the significant growth in edge computing, this new program enables IT solution providers to establish recurring revenue streams by offering remote monitoring and management of the physical infrastructure across their customers’ networks, utilising Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure IT Software & Digital Services.
Core components of the Edge Software & Digital Services Program include:
- Lifecycle rebates – an ongoing financial benefit for IT solution providers to reinvest in their business
- Step-by-step operational e-guide – “The Essential Guide to Growing Your Business with Managed Power Services”
- Certification paths – educational courses designed to increase technical and business acumen related to digital remote monitoring software and service options
- EcoStruxure IT Software and Digital Services – access to Schneider Electric’s flexible portfolio, offering advanced, 24/7 remote monitoring, and remote/on-site support.
