Through its power management technologies and services, Eaton help its customers effectively manage electrical and mechanical power – more safely and efficiently
In a special interaction with SME Channels, Debasish Banerji, Director, Sales and Service, Eaton Electrical Sector, India, reveals his organization’s modern approach to power management technology; his company’s key offerings in this space, changing security scape; opportunities and challenges, opportunities for channel growth; his forecasts for the industry; and his vision and plans for the channel community. Edited excerpts…
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“We have designed hardware and software products for decades, along with providing installation and maintenance services, positioning ourselves as the most capable cybersecurity provider for electrical infrastructure and building systems.”
Debasish Banerji,
Director, Sales and Service,
Eaton Electrical Sector, India.
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Would you please brief us on Eaton’s offerings in the India market?
Eaton’s mission is to improve the quality of life and the environment through the use of power management technologies and services. Eaton provides sustainable solutions that help its customers effectively manage electrical and mechanical power – more safely, more efficiently, and more reliably. Eaton’s 2020 revenues were $17.9 billion, and the company sells products to customers in more than 175 countries. Eaton has approximately 85,000 employees.
Eaton firstly established a presence in the Asia Pacific region during the 1970s. Since then, the company’s presence has grown significantly with a fast-growing network of sales and marketing offices, manufacturing plants, service centers, and research facilities in the region. Eaton moved its Asia Pacific headquarters from Hong Kong to Shanghai in 2014.
Today, we have nearly 17,000 employees, 6 R&D centers, and manufacture in 34 manufacturing facilities in countries and regions including China, India, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, and Australia for all of Eaton’s distinct business.
Eaton Power Quality Private Limited, India is a 100% subsidiary and a part of the electrical sector of Eaton Corporation. We are catering to every industrial segment with versatile solutions which include Switchgear: LV & MV Solutions, Fusegear: LV & MV solutions, UPSs, and software solutions.
Eaton has been at the frontline providing comprehensive cybersecurity services for operational technology (OT) to help keep operations and personnel safe, How have you been leveraging the recent hike in demand for security solutions?
Eaton is dedicated to providing comprehensive cybersecurity services for operational technology (OT) to help keep your operations and personnel safe. Eaton have designed hardware and software products for decades, along with providing the associated installation and maintenance services positions as the most capable cybersecurity provider in the industry for electrical infrastructure and building systems. Our experienced team of cybersecurity leaders identify and address gaps in your processes and personnel training programs to minimize your overall attack surface.
Customers rely on Eaton to understand, dissect and alleviate cybersecurity risk. It starts with dedicated people. Our team members meet and exceed competencies recognized by international standards organizations through rigorous, in-depth technical training programs. You can be confident that management, engineering and personnel have the knowledge and service capabilities to address advanced cyber threats.
Cybersecurity Center of Excellence Cybersecurity is a foundational element in the lifecycle of our products and services. Cybersecurity is at the core of our “secure by design” philosophy, and it’s embedded in all the Intelligent Power products and platforms we bring to market. The Cybersecurity Center of Excellence team aligns our talented people with best practice processes and modern technologies, creating a program that trains others and helps our customers avoid the dangers of cyber-attacks. Eaton has the first research and testing facility approved to participate in UL’s Data Acceptance Program (DAP) for cybersecurity in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Recently, UL approved a second Eaton lab to join the program — another industry first — in Pune, India. These accredited lab environments provide the global capability to test Eaton products with intelligence or embedded logic to key aspects of the UL 2900-1 standard.
How do you view the recent innovations in the field of UPS technology and what is Eaton’s market strategy for it in the India market?
UPS is a transversal technology and can be used by any power consuming set-up which could be a large data center or a small-scale industry. Of course, AI and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) adoption does encourage use of IT assets (servers, storage, switches etc.) which thereby result in the increased usage of UPS to provide clean continuous power to such critical assets.
Another interesting point here is that with the use of AI and automation, the UPS is itself becoming more ‘Aware’ and ‘Smart’. For example, the Eaton EnergyAware UPS allows the customer to intelligently feed power back to the grid thereby accelerating the return on investment. Eaton has made these features possible by the adopting the latest digital and electronic hardware technologies in our UPS.
We have a R&D center in Pune who serves Eaton globally across its all range of businesses be it UPS, Switchgear or Aerospace. We are developing new technologies which would help in creating a better for all of us to live. We are focusing on digital solutions (Software suites and intelligent products) which help customers to better manage their businesses. Focus on Energy Transition (Building as a Grid, Data Center as a Grid solutions), EV solutions and lastly Digitalization.
As businesses face insurmountable power management challenges, how does your company help address the critical power management needs?
We’re in the midst of a significant transformation – the digital transformation of manufacturing. The 4th industrial revolution, or Industry 4.0, is the automation of traditional manufacturing practices using digital technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, additive manufacturing, factory simulation and augmented and virtual reality. Manufacturing models are becoming autonomous and using algorithms and machine learning to become “smart.”
By leveraging Industry 4.0 technology, we’re significantly improving our manufacturing operations and adding value for our customers— creating and developing systems and processes that are connected, flexible and optimized. Innovative, scalable and data-driven manufacturing models are resulting in higher product quality, decreased time-to-market, reduced environmental footprint and a safer and more productive workforce.
What product differentiation does Eaton brings to the table?
UPS is often referred to as the “heart” of the electrical network. Eaton has recently introduced UPS using EnergyAware technology that allows large Data Center operators to give back energy to the grid. The UPS’s primary role doesn’t change, but by creating UPS as a Reserve (UPSaaR) through EnergyAware, organizations can enable Energy Transition. UPSaaR organizations can offset both their capital expenditure while reducing the carbon footprint and boosting renewable energy. This is installed along with UPS to regulate demand from the grid i.e, responsible for upstream and downstream charging to discharge the battery back to the grid. It compensates the data center companies/operators for reducing energy consumption when required to maintain the grid frequency and contributing to green energy, thus generating revenue from their UPS investments.
Demand for UPS systems is increasing due to the growing adoption of cloud servers. Manufacturers are more focused on developing systems with lower ownership cost, greater efficiency, and increasingly investing in developing reliable technology to fulfill demand for cloud computing.
Edge Data Center – The new wave
“Edge computing” has become an IT buzz-phrase about data produced by the internet of things (IoT) devices. It reduces latency and creates faster connections than sending the data across long routes to data centers or clouds. Small data centers providing cloud computing support and processing by expanding the Edge of the network can be categorized as Edge data centers. At times, a single Edge data center may be connected to many other Edge data centers that can be used to store, process, and cache data and deliver the required information when needed – at the right time at the right place.
We are the leader in edge computing technologies. We offer power management solutions for distributed IT edge environments to keep mission-critical applications and devices running longer and prevent servers from data loss. These tools include uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), power distribution units (PDU), and intelligent power management with environmental monitoring, advanced notifications, remote control capabilities, and automated responses for graceful shutdown. These tools are designed to satisfy the needs of ever-evolving digital infrastructure.
What Partner Upskilling Programs do you run to help upskill your partners?
We help our partners to grow business by constant learning and development through product trainings, technical sessions and business strategy guidance. We firmly believe in the development of the partner ecosystem as it leads great business partnerships.
How does your channel strategy align with today’s market trends?
We have new product launches and product upgrades planned in 2022 in 1PH & 3PH UPS which will help channels boost their sales. In addition to physical products, Eaton’s Brightlayer Data Centers suite (software applications) includes everything from data center infrastructure management (DCIM) with capacity analytics and 3D visualizations to advanced, automatic remediations and cloud-based analytics that help predict power component failure. We believe that the Brightlayer software suite will be a strong driving force for the channel partners in 2022.
What’s your growth outlook for the India Market?
Indian customers are highly tech savvy and value seekers. It is a mis-conception that Indian customers seek low prices. The truth is that any product that offers high value to the customer has very good chances of being successful in India.
We have to see the evolution of purchasing behavior across three dimensions: 1) Buying process 2) Technology adoption and 3) Value generation
Today’s consumer is well-versed in various means to gain information and insights about a product or a solution before deciding to purchase it. In the UPS category also we have observed changes to this effect. Most of the customers are aware of the latest UPS technology and demand those features. UPS buying is a significant CAPEX event and customers do take support from independent Electrical consultants to get it right. Apart from that, the channel partners in the UPS trade are key to sales as they have a much deeper reach within geography and have a strong customer base.
Customer today also appreciate the value monitoring & renewable integration brings to optimizing energy consumption. We are seeing UPS vendors incorporating latest digital technologies in their offerings as well as customers willing to pay for those services. We welcome such trends.
AI and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) adoption encourages the use of IT assets (servers, storage, switches, etc.), thereby resulting in the increased usage of UPS to provide clean continuous power to such critical assets.
