In conjunction with the ongoing MWC Barcelona 2022, Tara Neal, Executive Editor of The Fast Mode spoke to Mark Bidinger, Global Segment President for Cloud and Service Providers at Schneider Electric on the company's plans and showcases for this year's event.
Tara: What do you think MWC 2022 will be all about? And what are your MWC 2022 plans?
Mark: The telecommunication industry is quickly converging with cloud and IT architectures to support IoT 4.0 and other new applications that require ultra-low latencies. The cloud and how to best support it will be the focus of MWC for the next few years. In Barcelona, we look to share with customers, partners, and industry experts about their feedback on the use cases we are working with, and sustainable ways to support the new generation of networks that are fundamental to enable smart cities, smart factories, and the autonomous world.
We have one of our Factories in St. Boi, close to the feria where we build Prefabricated Datacenters and during this week we are complementing all the meetings we are having at the MWC with guided tours there for some of our Customers and Strategic Partners. We plan to share our recent white paper publications on edge and sustainability.
Tara: How has the pandemic impacted the operational and business landscape of the tech segment you are operating in?
Mark: With COVID-19, we have seen a massive fast-forward in digital transformation. In fact, recent studies show that we have vaulted five years forward in digital business adoption. Networks and Data centers are the backbone, perhaps more critical and appropriate, they are the heart of our digital world. All data flows through the interconnexion points, diverse networks and data centers, and with the accelerated transition to a more automated and more digital world proliferated, it is crucial for data centers - the very largest data centers and the very smallest edge data centers - to support the increased demand – efficiently and sustainably, while also delivering on resiliency. New cloud-based architectures run in a Datacenter and demand Energy to operate. The world is poised to become more connected, electric and digital. With this increased digital demand, the current and projected Network and IT energy consumption are highly debated topics given the climate crisis.
Tara: What emerging trends/technologies have you observed in your tech segment in recent months?
Mark: Schneider plays an important role in smart grid, industrial and Datacenters technologies all this Data-heavy or ultra-low latency applications such as high definition streaming media, autonomous vehicles, AR/VR, AI, and industrial 4.0 requires to place network controls functions and data processing at the edge of the network, where they’re closer to the end users or data source. As a result, proprietary telecom network architecture is converging with the traditional IT cloud architecture, and we refer to this space that requires regional and local Edge Datacenters as “ the network edge”.
We integrate and support all this with our ecostruxure platform and solutions. Schneider offers prefabricated modular data center solutions to help CSPs (Communication Service Providers) scale quickly and efficiently while also meeting their sustainability goals. Because of their design, pre-fabricated modular data centers can typically be up and running in 60% less time than traditional data centers. In addition, these prefab modular data centers are manufactured with sustainable construction methods and features that boost reliability, optimize operational energy savings, and leave a smaller environmental footprint.
Regional and Local Edge Datacenters supporting MEC (multi-Access Edge Computing) and distributed Cloud with open standards, highly distributed and with remote AI monitoring and integrated maintenance. Are key trends with Communications Service Providers while we notice new partnerships with hyperscalers to launch edge-based services, looking for network monetization and scalability of new business models.
Mark Bidinger is the President of the Cloud & Service Provider Segment for Schneider Electric. The segment is an exciting and disruptive segment for both customers and Schneider Electric, creating new business opportunities that necessitate a differentiated business model. Leading a global team, Mark and team are focused on addressing the international needs and the unique demand profile of colocation, telecommunications, IT, & Internet Giant clients.
