Power Protection FEATURED ARTICLE

A privately held company headquartered north of Dallas, Tex., which has been around for more than 30 years, MinuteMan UPS/ Para Systems (News - Alert) sells power protection products including surge suppressors, battery backup systems, UPS systems and other power-related products. Sold strictly through the channel via resellers, integrators and dealers, the power protection provider boasts a long legacy within the telecommunications arena and caters to clients throughout both North and South America.

I recently had the chance to speak with Bill Allen, marketing director at Minuteman, about a variety of topics including how having a solid power protection plan in place in any business nowadays is key, the company’s value proposition, and what MinuteMan is currently up to.

When taking a closer look at why power protection is now considered vital to organizations throughout every industry, Allen told me, “First of all, nothing happens when there is no power. And most people have experienced this scenario firsthand, especially the hard hit East Coast just this year. Power protection is very necessary and we are not just talking about a battery backup issue. Instead, there are a lot more features needed than just a battery and there are many ways companies can be negatively affected by not having access to power.”

Switching gears a bit and analyzing the ways in which MinuteMan stands apart from competitors, the answer to this question can be summed up in only three words—better value overall. Offering one of the best warranties in the industry—if not the best—as well as being much more cost-effective than other major players like APC, American Power Conversion and Eaton (News - Alert) etc., its power protection portfolio can be leveraged for 10-20 percent less than other solutions. However, the robust offerings boast the exact same capabilities, with the only difference being a cheaper price tag (News - Alert) attached.

Allen added, “That’s what we are, who we are and always who we have been. We try to differentiate ourselves in that way.”

As you read this article, the Texas-based power protection specialist is working on maintaining its growth. Seeing an excellent, record-breaking 2011, the company started off 2012 like a gangbuster and then with the presidential election and other events happening in the world, kind of fell off a bit. This is not uncommon as the same thing happened to others in the industry around this time as well, including MinuteMan’s distributors. Yet looking toward the light at the end of the tunnel, Allen told me that his organization saw the “best first quarter it has ever had” and he hopes to continue to take the steps needed to maintain that momentum.

Looking into our crystal ball, the future of power protection doesn’t look to be all that different from what it is like right now. 

“There is not a lot of earth-shattering technology that is going to be brought to the power protection industry. UPS is UPS, a surge protector is a surge protector and it does its job. What we have seen over the past 20 years though, is that the functionality of these products has increased at a very slow rate. We feel like the manageability of devices is going to become increasingly prevalent since people want to know what is going on in their network at all times and from anywhere. A current trend we are witnessing, however, is that a majority of the telecommunications vertical has converged into the IT sector and security systems have started to migrate to the IT sector as well. Everything really right now is converging and we want to make sure we are in a good position to enjoy that conversion,” he concluded.