Power Protection FEATURED ARTICLE

Last week was a rough one for Pennsylvania; more than 500,000 homes and businesses were left without power due to winter storm Nika, and power looks to be out for awhile in many cases.

“People should expect power to be out for several days simply because of the sheer volume of power outages and the amount of debris that must be cleared before power crews can access the problem areas,” noted Glenn Cannon, director of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, on YourErie.com, a Pennsylvania news site.

Worse, more snow is on the way; additional outages are expected.

Those in the Keystone State are not the only ones who are suffering this winter; other places, such as Florida and North Carolina, also have had winter storms that have downed power and disrupted businesses.

While the weather cannot be controlled, there are steps that businesses can take to mitigate the effects of winter weather.

One of the most important things that a business can do to combat inclement weather is to have sufficient backup power.

One of the issues with downed power is server corruption and computer malfunctions that can come from unceremoniously pulling the plug on computing systems. On a more subtle level, winter weather can also cause surges and brownouts, and poor power to reach devices that need clean power.

A quality uninterruptible power supply (UPS) can help, providing backup power when power goes down or when sub-part power is coming into the business.

The MinuteMan PRO-LCD Line Interactive UPS, for instance, offers automatic voltage regulation in addition to backup power that keeps equipment running long enough to shut down systems after a power failure.

A good UPS system also can help businesses weather power outages by enabling the business to have enough time to grab key files and properly get what it needs before moving employees to laptops and mobile devices while the office works on having power restored.

Weather can’t be controlled, but businesses can be ready. And being ready for winter weather starts with having backup power.