[ Spotlight: UPS ]
MISSION CRITICAL
With the economy showing distinct signs of life, end users are starting to examine business continuity plans. ANDREW BRISTER finds that UPS systems are critical, and electrical contractors are well placed to take advantage
A
nd now for some good news. UK construction output continues to rise like a phoenix from the ashes, with housing, commercial and civil engineering activity all seeing strong rates of expansion at the
start of the fourth quarter. October’s Markit/CIPS UK Construction Purchasing
Managers’ Index recorded its sixth consecutive monthly rise, with construction buyers reporting the fastest rise in output since September 2007. Electrical contractors are often at the end of the construction cycle and, to many, such confidence may seem a long way off yet, but firms need to prepare for a possible surge in tender activity. In any upturn, business continuity issues come to
the fore. Uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems have an important role to play. ‘As the UK economy grows out of recession, end users are starting to look again at their business continuity plans,’ explains
52 ECA Today December 2013
Robin Koffler, director at Thamesgate Group. ‘Their findings are pretty shocking – recent press reports on the stability and availability of grid supplies indicate a growing gap between demand and power availability that could lead to more frequent power cuts in the years to come – and a number of businesses are trying to tackle this issue head on. ‘Secondly, end users are looking at their energy
costs and, in this regard, may be considering replacing legacy UPS systems (older than eight to 10 years, with 84-92 per cent efficiencies) with the latest energy saving systems that can achieve operating efficiencies of up to 99 per cent. This will improve total cost of ownership and increase resilience,’ says Koffler.
Changing demand The changing nature of business also brings opportunities for electrical contractors. As we increasingly consume cloud services, use social media applications and shop, bank and work online, the demand on data centres to manage, process and store this data also grows. Ensuring the optimum performance of the data centre at all times is therefore critical. ‘Ask any service provider, and they will tell you that a significant chunk of their budget and resource is continuously invested into avoiding system downtime,’ says Leo Craig, general manager of Riello UPS.
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