Shulou(Shulou.com)06/01 Report--

In the field of IT, integration or integration has formed a huge torrent, irreversible. IT manufacturers will provide overall solutions that integrate computing, storage, networking and even software, and users want to deal with a single supplier to reduce overall procurement and usage costs. The same drama is being played out in the data center, where providing end-to-end solutions seems to be the proudest capital for data center vendors.

However, from the perspective of the gradually divided data center market, on the one hand, super-large data centers built by telecom operators and data center service providers emerge in endlessly, on the other hand, the size of enterprise data centers is gradually shrinking. Are different data center users suitable for end-to-end solutions?

It is not necessary to use all Eaton products

Zhang Guanghong, general manager of Eaton Electric Power quality China, believes that small and medium-sized data center customers do have a certain demand for end-to-end solutions, but for those large or even super-large data center customers, we need to analyze the situation. The end-to-end solution should not be a simple stack of hardware products, but should achieve the effect of 1 + 1 greater than 2 or even greater than 3 in order to truly reflect the value-added effect of the end-to-end solution.

"end-to-end solutions should not be a gimmick for manufacturers to promote products, but should actually solve customers' application problems. even if a manufacturer has a rich hardware product line, it does not show that it has the ability to solve customer problems." Zhang Guanghong said that Eaton's data center solution provides an open platform to integrate Eaton's own products and partner's products.

Although Eaton can provide all kinds of components for end-to-end solutions in the data center, Eaton does not force customers to use all of Eaton's products in the data center solution except for the overall solution for small and medium-sized customers. As long as it can solve problems for customers, Eaton's solution platform can also accept competitors' products. "end-to-end solutions for small and medium-sized customers are standardized and modular, can be quickly installed and deployed, and are easy to expand." Zhang Guanghong explained, "when facing customers, we do not deliberately emphasize that Eaton has the ability to provide a data center hardware box (overall solution), but to provide the most basic components. Let partners provide integrated solutions according to the needs of users, fully reflecting the added value that partners can provide." In fact, Eaton's products are the main force in the overall data center solutions provided by many integrators.

End-to-end solutions test the comprehensive capabilities of data center vendors in consulting, sales, products, delivery, and services. In order to improve the sales ability of the overall solution of the data center, Eaton continues to strengthen its customer-oriented sales model and conduct targeted training for its own sales staff and partners, hoping to provide suitable solutions for different data center users with a more open platform and mindset. " In the data center field, our advantage is that we have a deep understanding of customer needs and have many years of practical experience and excellent products around the world. " Zhang Guanghong concluded.

For Eaton, a standardized business model can bring significant advantages. Eaton uses and implements consistent tools and processes, and these collections of calibrated and integrated tools and processes are called Eaton Business Systems (EBS). By providing proven tools, processes and systems, EBS gives Eaton more time to focus on its business execution and operational growth. Eaton has maintained solid growth in the data center for many years, thanks to the corporate culture of EBS, which not only works for Eaton itself, but also includes partners.

Software and services are new growth points

Today, software-defined data centers are the most fashionable word. Due to the gradual popularization of virtualization, cloud computing and other technologies, the original decentralized data centers have become more centralized, while the data centers originally defined by physical methods have gradually become invisible, that is, they are no longer limited by physical connections.

"Software plays a great role in the construction and later operation and maintenance of the data center, and it can maximize the efficiency of the data center. Software increases the transparency of the data center. Users can monitor the data center to the server level or even the motherboard level." Zhang Guanghong said, "but no matter how high the level of virtualization and automation the data center reaches, the data center infrastructure is indispensable. In a software-defined data center, the infrastructure should be dynamic, with good scalability, monitoring and flexibility to adapt to different loads. Only in this way can the efficiency of the data center be maximized."

In the field of data center, software and services will become an important index to measure the core competitiveness of a data center manufacturer. The software mainly embodies the ability to manage the data center. Zhang Guanghong believes that the future data center must achieve intelligent management, and a data center includes different management levels, involving physical infrastructure, IT equipment, application management, and so on. Therefore, it is very necessary to realize the management of the entire life cycle of the data center, considering the overall input and output. In fact, the management of the power environment of the computer room is a very mature product market. However, in terms of data center lifecycle management, there is not a unified standard in the industry, and all manufacturers are developing products according to their own understanding of DCIM ((Data Center Infrastructure Management).

"whether it is the management of the power environment of the computer room or the supervision of IT equipment, users cannot treat the management of these systems in isolation. If you want to achieve the lifecycle management of the data center, you must first understand where the user's pain point is and what the business needs are. Only in this way can we provide targeted solutions." Zhang Guanghong said, "We have a senior management team in our global headquarters, which is responsible for understanding customer needs. On this basis, our product research and development has become more targeted, closer to the needs of users, and the product itself is simpler and more efficient."

Many of the employees in Eaton Services come from outside the data center and power supply. Their strength is that they are familiar with the user's business processes and needs, and can help users identify the pain points of the application. "after understanding the customer's needs, what we need to do is to fulfill our commitment to the customer, not just to set a high standard, but not to achieve it, which will make users lose confidence in the services provided by the manufacturer. We should provide customers with services with added value and a certain level of technology." Zhang Guanghong said, "both software and services reflect the soft power of manufacturers."

Why is Eaton betting on high-frequency machines?

"only with reliable products, competitive prices and services in place can we win customers. In the past, our single-phase UPS has always maintained a leading position. In recent years, our three-phase high-power UPS has also achieved substantial growth, and its market share has increased by several percentage points." Zhang Guanghong, general manager of Eaton Electric Power quality China, said, "We can take the lead in the market by continuous innovation."

In the past few years, the UPS industry has been controversial or even misunderstood about industrial frequency machines and high-frequency machines, resulting in slow growth in the application of high-frequency machines. Since the launch of high-frequency machines in 2006, Eaton firmly believes that the future market belongs to high-frequency machines, so he decisively stopped the classic product Powerware 9315 in the industrial frequency machine market, which has been used for more than 20 years, and made every effort to promote high-frequency machines.

"the overall efficiency of high-frequency machines is much higher than that of industrial frequency machines, and it has better adaptability. Now that high-frequency machines are recognized as the future trend, we will unswervingly develop high-frequency machines and do not want to confuse the public." Zhang Guanghong said, "through several years of efforts, we have gradually helped customers change their minds. High-frequency machines have also been widely used in finance, telecommunications, industry and other fields." Technological innovation is only one aspect, on the other hand, in order to promote the application of new products, manufacturers must also provide supporting methods, tools and services, so that new products can really fall to the ground. This is also one of the important reasons for Eaton's success in promoting high-frequency machines.

With the rise of local UPS companies in China, international companies like Eaton are also facing more fierce market competition. "from made in China to created in China, this is the general trend." Zhang Guanghong analyzed, "as an international company, we must first respect the Chinese market and meet the needs of Chinese customers." in order to achieve this goal, we must achieve differentiation in product lines, channels and business models and strengthen our core competitive advantages. if we want to stay ahead in the market, we must persist in innovation. "

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