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Technology company finds everything it desired in PowerAdvantage program

Oct 19, 2022

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Success Story: Grainger Technology Company

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Background

Since 2009, Grainger Technology Company has been dedicated to supplying electronic equipment, infrastructure upgrades and managed services to help clients with the daily challenges of operating complex networks. In addition to offering network monitoring, network security assessments, wireless site surveys, and security-focused consulting and remediation, Grainger’s team of engineers and support staff can also work with customers to develop and implement comprehensive technology plans. Operated by the husband-and-wife team of Jesica and Brad Grainger, the company’s primary focus areas include data center virtualization; network and system security; Cloud-based development; end-to-end integration; network switching and routing; wireless 1-to-1 design and implementation; and cable plant and fiber services. 

Partnering for success

In 2019, while supporting the technology needs of numerous K-12 school districts, Grainger Technology recognized that it was missing one critical component from its product lineup: power protection. “We would ask schools what worked best for them in a battery backup solution, and all the customers that had Eaton were 100 percent satisfied with the product,” Jesica recalls. “That made us interested in being a partner.”

After researching several uninterruptible power system (UPS) manufacturers, the Graingers visited the Eaton booth while attending a K-12 conference and learned about the company’s PowerAdvantage program. “We signed up on the spot,” Brad says. “We wanted to pick one power partner in which our company and our customers could have complete confidence. Whenever we consider a potential partnership, we seek a quality product first,” he continues. “After looking at other competitors, we quickly realized that Eaton checked all the boxes for us.”

Exclusive partner training

Grainger Technology recognized that beyond providing best-in-class power management solutions, Eaton offered an award-winning partner program, PowerAdvantage. Once the Graingers had completed the onboarding process, they immediately began to utilize many of the resources available to partners. To begin with, Eaton is committed to ensuring continuous learning, offering resellers in-depth instruction and certification, online training modules and monthly “Power Half-Hour” sessions. “We went through the training and found it to be very informative,” Jesica confirms.

In addition, Eaton pairs every reseller with a dedicated account manager. For the Graingers, the ability to work closely with their representative, Greg Cullum, as well as Eaton’s inside sales team, has been a tremendous benefit. “The biggest advantage to us is the relationship we have with Greg and the sales team,” Jesica shares. “We aren’t power experts, but we don’t have to be because we can always rely on Greg and the team.”

“Greg is always available if we have questions,” Brad adds, “and he not only follows up with us, he periodically checks in just to see if we need anything.”

The Graingers also appreciate the ability to get in touch with applications or sales engineers, if needed. “Often, we are building out a complete solution for our customers, so the fact that everyone at Eaton is so knowledgeable is a real advantage,” says Brad.

Shortly after joining the PowerAdvantage program, the Graingers discovered that an existing K-12 customer wanted to complete a UPS refresh. They entered the opportunity — which consisted of more than 50 UPSs, 20 power distribution units (PDUs), Gigabit Network Cards (NETWORK-M2) and Eaton Intelligent Power Manager (IPM) software — into Eaton’s deal registration portal, another valuable component of the PowerAdvantage program.

“The school district had mostly older units and decided to replace everything they had with Eaton unit,” Jesica recalls. “Because they wanted to monitor each UPS, as well as the power consumption out of outlets in PDUs, we were able to supply IPM and make that occur seamlessly.”

In fact, Grainger Technology monitors the entire fleet of UPSs and PDUs as a service for the school district. In addition to keeping tabs on the health status of each UPS and tracking power consumption in the PDU outlets, the company is notified via alert if an issue were to arise.

Even the recycling process for the district’s previous UPSs was made easy through Eaton’s UPSgrade program, in which all of the swapped-out UPSs were picked up and hauled away. “We received a flyer about the program and just followed the steps,” Jesica explains. “We relocated all of the competitive units to a central location and Eaton sent a truck to pick them all up. It was very easy and the customer really appreciated that extra value.”

In addition to training, deal registration and UPSgrade, the Graingers have taken advantage of other benefits available through the PowerAdvantage program, as well. “The online portal is very user-friendly,” Jesica says, “and the help we received putting together a business plan was very useful.” They also appreciate added perks and rewards, such as reloadable gift cards for selling specific products.

Result

Having racked up more than $100,000 in Eaton sales their first year, the Graingers quickly worked their way into the top tier of the PowerAdvantage program. Now, as a Certified level partner, they are eligible to receive the most benefits, and are exploring new efforts such as co-marketing projects using marketing development funds (MDF).

“The ease of the process and the support and rewards have been amazing,” says Jesica, “not to mention, the quality of the product. It’s just been an awesome experience.” Adds Brad, “We are so confident in the partnership we have with Eaton.” As an Eaton partner, Grainger Technology is now able to:

• Provide the highest quality power protection solutions to its customers
• Easily access a broad range of support resources, including product, engineering and applications team members
• Further their own knowledge and expertise through continuous training options
• Cash in on valuable rewards such as SPIFs and MDF

Interested in learning more about this Success Story?

Read additional information about how Eaton UPS, PDU and software solutions helped this school district earn an A+ for uptime, ensuring that its 6,500 students stay ahead of the curve in technology adoption and utilization.