Power Protection FEATURED ARTICLE

From companies and individuals proclaiming “It could never happen to me” with regards to extended power outages, to others bemoaning the misconception that power protection units cost a hefty bundle, the power supply industry is rife with fallacies.

“Business owners and administrators often feel that power protection is not cost-effective, or choose to believe that power problems will happen only to others and not them,” Duston Nixon, marketing communications specialist for Minuteman UPS/Para Systems, a leading provider of power supplies, told TMCnet. “When the facts are presented, however, it becomes apparent that a complete power protection system is a worthwhile investment that will prevent headaches for years to come.”

So what are some of the top misconceptions about the power protection industry? Keep reading.

Misconception 1: UPSs and Power Protection Products are too Expensive

We get it; your purse strings are tight and you are definitely wary about spending any money on any non-essential items. The thing is, if you are business, power protection is an essential item as a bout of downtime can wreak havoc on your profits. In fact, Aberdeen (News - Alert) Group estimates that one hour or more of downtime for the average company can cost the company $110,000 or more.

“Prices on all forms of power protection continue to fall and are at all-time lows,” Nixon said. “Users can now purchase higher end, sophisticated equipment for prices once unheard of.”

“The other problem with this thinking is that no matter the price, the up-front cost of power protection is usually recovered the first time a problem occurs,” he added. “When presented with the possibility of complete power failure, most business owners and administrators will agree that a few hundred or even thousand dollars is a worthwhile insurance policy.”

Misconception 2: My Power is Good 99 Percent of the Time

It is wishful thinking to assume that your power is in good standing 99 percent of the time because the reality is that your power is no more immune to an outage than you are to the winter cold. And while 99 percent might seem like a good number that would mean that your power is bad one percent of the time each year – or three days, 15 hours, and 36 minutes, according to Nixon.

“The fact is, any issue can be crippling to a business or campus,” Nixon said. “According to a J.D. Power & Associates survey, the average business suffers 28 potentially damaging power issues per year. Simply put, any piece of equipment that is critical to operations must have stable, reliable power 100 percent of the time.”

Misconception 3: There isn’t Enough Room in our Telephone or Security System Budget for Power Protection

While it’s not a fun day going line by line on your operating and capital budgets to figure out where you can cut corners, one place that should never be cut is power protection, according to Minuteman.

“The construction of any communications or security system simply must include power protection, even if compromises must be made in other areas of the system,” Nixon said. “When, not if, power fails, the features of the system will be secondary to its ability to keep functioning. The first time the lights go dark and business can still be conducted, it will be apparent that the right choices were made during the planning stages.”

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO East 2012, taking place Jan. 31-Feb. 3 2012, in Miami, FL. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. For more information on registering for ITEXPO registration click here.

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