The emergence of the network edge in recent years has been a boon to IT channel providers. The smaller spaces and loads common to edge sites are fertile ground for resellers – including Vertiv’s channel partners – who specialise in solutions for those environments. The edge and the channel are inextricably linked, which is great for channel business but presents some new challenges for partners used to the commodification of the products they sell.
Consider this: As the edge matures and edge sites proliferate and become more sophisticated, the solutions deployed at those sites become more complex. Configuring a modern edge deployment is a far cry from what channel partners were doing for small spaces in the days before anyone had heard of “the edge.” Ask any mechanic how they felt the first time a hybrid pulled into their garage, and you’ll have some idea of how today’s channel partners feel about the modern, intelligent, connected edge. They love the business, but there’s a learning curve.
Vertiv is trying to shorten that curve. The latest example is the introduction of edge infrastructure models channel partners can use to simplify and streamline configuration and deployment at edge sites. This is an important step toward customised site standardisation that can reduce costs and deployment timelines and increase margins.
“Simply put, it requires a solid network of partners and manufacturers to deploy the right edge solution for a customer. Through these edge infrastructure models, channel partners can help streamline many fundamental choices and introduce repeatability within edge environments,” says Birgit Jackson, newly appointed Director of Integrated Racks and IT Solutions for Vertiv in Europe, Middle East and Africa.
The edge infrastructure models research goes beyond the edge archetypes Vertiv identified in 2018, beyond simple use cases, and focuses on the key factors that influence edge design, architecture, and equipment choices. Using the edge archetypes as a starting point and considering those factors, Vertiv developed four practical edge infrastructure models – Device Edge, Micro Edge, Distributed Edge Data Center, and Regional Edge Data Center.
Because the edge is equipped with products and solutions commonly sold through the channel, channel partners are the primary resource for customers deploying edge computing sites. Until now, these sites have mostly been one-offs, each one configured independently and at the time of the order – even though thousands such sites perform the same functions and support the same applications. This practice is slow, inefficient, more costly than it needs to be, and time-consuming for resellers – which eats into margins.
By using these edge infrastructure models, channel partners can quickly and easily categorise a customer’s edge site and streamline configuration and deployment. When a reseller identifies the proper model – be it Micro Edge, Distributed Edge Data Center, or Regional Edge Data Center – the broad strokes of the deployment become obvious. At that point, the process of customising the infrastructure plan to meet specific customer needs can begin. This makes the sales process and all interactions with Vertiv easier, more convenient, and more profitable.
Understand this: Using these edge infrastructure models does not mean every edge site is the same. However, by answering the big questions about a deployment quickly, the models make it easier and faster to make the customisations all customers require. They help our partners become the experts their customers need to navigate today’s edge.
What do you think about the edge infrastructure models? We’d especially love to hear from channel partners on how you plan to leverage this research help your customers and grow your business.
