Eaton takes giant step toward digitization with Brightlayer platform

Aug 2, 2021

You may have been watching Eaton’s successful growth in the distributed IT market over the last decade, which was focused on a clear message around software integration with leading IT platforms. But you may not realize that the remainder of the corporation – originally focused on industrial markets – is now also engaged in a radical transformation to become an intelligent power management company.

Transformation through visualization

Driving the ability for every Eaton business to deliver on this promise is the Brightlayer digital foundation. Targeted toward the data center and distributed IT markets, Brightlayer leverages the visual data center platform provided by Optimum Path (OPI), a leading company in the data center infrastructure management (DCIM) space that we acquired in 2020. With advanced visualization and planning of physical and logical infrastructure – combined with a highly scalable database – the company’s technology is second to none in the industry.

At Eaton, we already addressed one of the most common objections to deploying DCIM solutions, which is the inherent complexity of these enterprise-wide solutions with Visual Power Manager (VPM), a scaled-down version of the full suite focused on managing power assets only. It allows for fast deployment, reduced learning curve and a cost that customers can easily afford even if the CAPEX investment was not part of their annual budgeting process. Eaton is also providing an easy upgrade migration path for customers who would like to unlock the full DCIM capabilities of Visual Capacity Optimization Manager (VCOM) at a later stage.

A new revenue source, with training to sell it

Eaton is now putting its strength and global outreach to take this platform to the next level as we quickly ramp up operations and customer interaction. What that means for our reseller partners is a continuing investment across the board in measures to help you succeed at selling our software solutions. For example, just last month Eaton hired 40 dedicated business development resources to assist partners in identifying Brightlayer software opportunities and providing the support needed to close sales. Furthermore, Eaton enables partners to build their competency and become certified through specific education tracks. As partners become fully trained, they can then drive incremental revenue when selling software; Brightlayer helps partner businesses to stay current and grow.

With everything fully integrated under the Eaton Brightlayer umbrella, we have combined exceptional technology with Eaton’s proven go-to-market strategy – providing customers with access to the optimal platform to manage power in a data center or distributed IT environment.

The power of optimization (of power)

With the Brightlayer foundation, Eaton has harnessed more than 100 years of power management expertise to help your customers make their operations more efficient. The platform enables customers to optimize how power is used, stored and distributed through data and insights from secure, connected and intelligent assets. By leveraging digital technologies including connected devices, cloud and mobile platforms, artificial intelligence and machine learning at scale, Eaton is able transform power management – making power safer, more sustainable and efficient for customers and partners.

As we continue our transformation into an intelligent power management company, you can rest assured that we will remain focused on our partners – developing the support, tools and programs you need to succeed. In the coming months, we look forward to the opportunity to share more information with you about Brightlayer and the tremendous value it can provide for your customers.

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