By: Sydney Higgo - Industrial Automation Business Developer & Engineer at Schneider Electric

Traditionally, automation partnerships centred on clear deliverables, identifying requirements, supplying the right equipment, and ensuring reliable support. Today, it is changing into a more advisory-led model that complements the new era of industrial automation driven by software-defined automation and AI.

With this exciting change, the automation partner’s role has evolved to truly grasp its customer’s operational priorities, existing infrastructure, and long-term ambitions, all before recommending the requisite technology.

For one, the ability to integrate systems, manage data, apply analytics and continuously optimise operations will be a major differentiator. This can deliver far greater value than the initial equipment investment alone.

The shift is therefore not simply from hardware to software, but from selling equipment to delivering measurable business outcomes. For customers, the value lies in improving efficiency, productivity, uptime and energy performance, with data increasingly becoming a strategic asset that can inform optimisation and AI-driven decision-making.

With organisations modernising existing facilities rather than going the forklift route, an automation partner’s role can become truly invaluable. A future-fit automation strategy must therefore enable businesses to build on what they already have, introducing new capabilities in a phased and commercially sustainable way.

The rise of software-defined automation

One of the most important developments in the channel’s progression is the shift toward a modernised posture built on software-defined automation.

Traditional automation architectures can make control applications closely dependent on specific hardware. As technologies evolve, this can make upgrades complex and potentially disruptive, particularly for organisations with significant installed infrastructure.

But, by decoupling software and control applications from the underlying physical devices, organisations can modernise progressively while protecting existing investments and creating greater flexibility for future technology choices.

This is where EcoStruxure Automation Expert (EAE), Schneider Electric's universal automation system based on the IEC 61499 standard for distributed, event-driven automation, has an important role to play.

EAE is designed around a software-defined automation approach that decouples control applications from specific hardware. This, in turn, enables organisations to modernise at their own pace, integrate third-party equipment and establish a common software layer across their automation environment.

Open and interoperable architectures are equally important. By enabling automation environments to connect with multi-vendor equipment, enterprise systems, cloud environments and digital applications, organisations can avoid being constrained by proprietary architectures. 

For channel partners, this creates an opportunity to become the integrator of a broader technology ecosystem rather than simply the supplier of a particular automation platform.

Instead of asking which controller or device needs to be replaced, organisations can ask:

• Which capabilities need to be introduced?
• What processes do they aim to improve?
• How should their automation architecture evolve over time?

From system installer to strategic advisor

As automation becomes more software-centric, successful automation partners will require expertise that spans operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT), including software integration, data management, analytics and lifecycle services.

Increasingly, this also means helping customers turn operational data into a strategic asset, using analytics, AI and real-time insights to identify opportunities for optimisation and make better-informed decisions.

This does not mean that traditional automation expertise becomes less important. Quite the opposite. Deep knowledge of industrial processes and OT environments provides the foundation for understanding where digital technologies can deliver meaningful value.

The differentiator will be the ability to connect that knowledge with broader digital capabilities. Partners will also need to operate comfortably across open, interoperable ecosystems, connecting OT and IT environments and integrating technologies from multiple vendors.

Relationship that continues beyond implementation

As software, analytics and connected services become integral to industrial operations, there is an opportunity for partners to support customers throughout the entire technology lifecycle. This can include assessment and architecture, implementation, optimisation and ongoing improvement.

The most successful automation partners will therefore be those that combine the roles of digital transformation consultant, software integrator, AI advisor and lifecycle services provider.

Their competitive advantage will not come from simply having the right products available but understanding how those products, platforms and services can work together to solve a customer's business challenges.

Ultimately, this represents a fundamental change in how value is created in industrial automation. Rather than static, one-time product transactions, the opportunity is to build open, software-driven and continuously evolving solutions that help customers turn technology into measurable business outcomes.