Power Protection FEATURED ARTICLE

Bill Allen, marketing director at Minuteman UPS/Para Systems, recently published an article discussing power security on campuses and the complexities that can arise when a power outage hits a large university. Just as businesses and organizations have seen the value in protecting their electricity and data, the educational field need to catch wind of this trend, too, argues Allen.

Campuses cannot function without their computers, servers, telephone systems, security systems and all of the peripheral devices that support them, Allen says, and because electrical power and operations are “so tightly interwoven,” in the event of a power outage the problems cut directly into an institution's ability to “keep its mission-critical systems fully functional.”

In addition to costing campuses thousands of dollars, a power outage can result in security breaches as well. According to Allen, a recent CNN article reported that power problems can cost businesses and consumers more than $119 billion annually. And, according to the marketing director, it’s not a matter of if a power outage will occur it’s a matter of when.

Power failures happen in a variety of ways, whether it’s rolling brownouts or blackouts or natural disasters or simple worker carelessness. For decades, companies and educational institutions have been able to turn to power protection solutions in the event of an emergency and the devices range from small, inexpensive surge suppressors to giant uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) designed to support an entire facility.

While we think of campuses as safe places, they too are not immune from power outages.

“When a student or teacher enters an educational institution, the assumption is the student and faculty are protected,” Allen said. “When an employee goes to work every day, the employer has an obligation to provide a secure work environment.”

In the event of an outage, the security system goes down and things that were once presumed to be protected become vulnerable.

“Power protection must be an integral part of an installation,” Allen argues. “Adequate power protection protects the institution from possible liability and safety issues.”

While an outage can spell disaster for a university, many campus leaders are met with opposition when they suggest having power protection devices installed on campus. Objections such as “UPSs are too expensive,”  “Our power is good 99 percent of the time” and “Our buildings are backed up by a generator” need appropriate responses that point out the benefits of power protection devices, Allen argues.

“Security systems are installed to make sure assets, employees, faculty, patients and students are protected, but when the power goes out and security systems fail, bad things can happen quickly,” Allen states. “Security cameras go down. DVRs are no longer recording. Access control systems can be rendered inoperable. When these things happen, campuses are putting their students, patients and staff at risk.”