French energy multinational Schneider Electric (EPA: SU) has appointed Karlton Gray as its new IT Channel Director for the UK & Ireland as enterprises rapidly shift their data centre configurations to cater for a safer future built on data.

Gray joined Schneider Electric’s Secure Power Division in 2015 and since joining he has held numerous roles within the company, managing large-scale enterprise, corporate and e-commerce channel partners including CDW, Softcat, Comms Express, Ebuyer, CCS Media, Misco, Amazon and Bechtle.

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In his director role, Gray is set to take charge of Schneider Electric’s IT channel sales divisions across the region and will be tasked with driving part of Schneider Electric’s Secure Power Division, which provides power protection, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), racks, enclosures, power distribution units (PDU) and cooling solutions for data centres, server rooms and edge computing environments.

Gray said: “As we return to a more digital, electric world, it’s clear that partner relationships have never been more important. Throughout the pandemic, the IT, data centre and communications industries have been pivotal in helping businesses adapt to remote working, and I believe many organisations will look to retain some level of hybrid operations going forward.

“What is crucial now is that we help our partners meet growing end-user demands, safely return to personal engagements and plan for the future.”

Karlton joined Schneider Electric as a Channel Account Manager in 2015, driving sales for APC™, its flagship brand of physical infrastructure and software solutions via UK direct market resellers (DMR), VARs and traditional hardware resellers.

In 2017 he was promoted to Senior Channel Account Manager, where he was responsible for establishing and managing relationships with partners to deliver growth across the UK and Northern Europe.

He was promoted to Senior Enterprise Account Manager in early 2020 and became responsible for managing the company’s largest enterprise customers, leading a team of channel professionals to grow its infrastructure solutions business via e-commerce, reseller and corporate partner accounts.

Gray added: “Whether through IT modernisation programmes, the deployment of edge computing solutions or creating new digital service propositions that address end-user skills shortages, technology has provided us with a vehicle to address key business challenges in a sustainable, energy-efficient and environmentally beneficial way.

“As the world’s most sustainable organisation, I’m excited to be part of a company that’s driving transformative change through our partners.”