With increasing numbers of businesses reliant on electronic equipment to conduct their business, a power outage – even for a short time – can cause significant problems. This is where uninterruptable power supplies come in – and it is something resellers should be offering to customers.
Most businesses, regardless of sector, now rely on electricity. Whether it is for computers or machinery, most are electrically powered. This means that a stable power supply is crucial for the smooth running of the business as power outages can cause significant damage.
Power cuts are an ever-present threat. Martin Ryder, channel sales director Northern Europe at Vertiv, notes that UKPower says that almost 66% of UK residents have encountered power cuts in their local areas, with nearly 23% indicating power cuts happening annually.
“There are three main factors that have affected the energy industry in the UK, causing new threats to the power landscape: climate change directly affecting the fuel supply, wasting energy is making headlines, natural energy production as well as the physical resilience of current and future energy infrastructure,” he says. “Heatwaves and droughts are already putting existing energy generation under stress. The war in Ukraine has led to supply shortages of power and increased energy costs.
“Finally, cybersecurity is continuing to be a threat to the energy industry and is a major concern for governments and organisations.”
With the threat of power outages there, it means businesses should have a plan in place to ensure that if one does happen, their operations should not be affected, and this is where uninterruptable power supplies (UPS) come in.
Cost of an outage
“For businesses, a dependable UPS is crucial in protecting against power outages, brownouts and other disruptions that can damage electronic equipment and hinder operations,” says Martin. “The absence of a UPS can lead to serious consequences, including lost data, ruined hardware and total system breakdowns. These factors impact productivity, revenue, brand reputation and safety, particularly in vital environments such as hospitals and transportation networks.”
Russell Pritchard, UK sales manager at Central Power Services, agrees that power interruptions are a growing concern for businesses in the UK. “Particularly as extreme weather events become more severe and unpredictable,” he says. “With limited electricity capacity and energy demand on the rise, the risk of outages is increasing. Most businesses have some reliance on data servers and need to be prepared.
“The consequences of a power cut can be severe. Operationally, a sudden loss of power can bring business activities to a halt. Offices are left in darkness, safety and security systems inoperative, and IT infrastructure – including data servers – become unresponsive. Even brief downtime can cause extensive backlogs, delaying service delivery and disrupting workflow. Businesses can lose thousands of pounds per hour along with facing reputational damage.”
Rebecca Slade, business unit manager – infrastructure at Exertis Enterprise, adds: “Given the instability of power due to the global climate, I would say that all businesses should mitigate against these circumstances,” she says.
“Businesses can expect losses in productivity; the cost can escalate into the hundreds of thousands dependent on the size of the business. Having a back up mechanism saves costs to a business and the possible loss of customers.”
Robust continuity strategy
Russell adds that to mitigate the risks, businesses need a robust power continuity strategy. “Standby generators and UPS systems are key solutions,” he says. “UPS systems can play a crucial role in protecting data servers by providing a business-as-usual scenario whilst the standby generator goes through its starting and changeover sequence, preventing potential data loss that could take days to recover from.
“However, UPS solutions are typically short-term measures, dependent on battery capacity. A standby generator can be a longer-term solution provided it is properly maintained, with fuel and oil levels kept ready.
“In 2025, the most prepared businesses will use the first half of the year, while weather is mild, to prepare their backup power solutions. Waiting until severe weather occurs can make it too late to prevent serious disruption. A proactive approach to power continuity is essential to ensuring operational stability, financial security, and customer confidence.”
What resellers should be offering
Martin says that the need for UPS is something that resellers should be discussing with their customers. “With so much of a business’ operation relying on technology, it is crucial for enterprises to have a reliable, efficient power supply to keep systems running smoothly,” he says.
“With downtime costing organisations greatly in monetary and reputational terms, a UPS coupled with the associated battery backup is an essential component of any power management strategy, providing backup power in case of outages or other disruptions. Resellers who are supplying any form of critical IT hardware, should see UPS, as well as associated critical infrastructure products such as PDU’s, as an opportunity for increased attach rate and additional revenue streams.”
Rebecca says that resellers should be looking at the future demands of the markets. “It’s no longer the case that a small UPS will do the job, rack density is multiplying at a level we haven’t seen before due to the demands of HPC and the market needs to react by asking the question as to the actual needs of the client,” she says.
She adds that resellers should be asking customers about the application of it. “Rack density is about to move dramatically due to the advances in AI, all of a sudden everyone is going to require 3-phase solutions to support the compute power they have in their rack and the channel needs to be ready for that,” she says. “Exertis Enterprise is ready to support our partners in this and we are excited by this new chapter in the datacentre space.”
Entering the market
With the need for UPS growing among businesses, it is a market that resellers should look at getting into, and the barriers to entry are not that high.
“Resellers should look for partners that are equipped with industry-leading global portfolios of critical infrastructure solutions and simplify what can often be a complex path to navigate,” says Martin. “The vendor should have a clear strategy to drive channel growth through investment, industry leading and reliable products, extensive training and easy to implement, practical marketing campaigns. It is beneficial for resellers if partners have many years of experience and an established global footprint, including dedicated customer support. The solutions should also be margin rich, providing channel partners with flexibility.
“At the core should be good communication and solid partnerships. Vendors should equip their partners with what they need to succeed and work to stay in step as their business and the market changes. Choose a vendor that is committed to rewarding partners and consistently and seamlessly share high quality leads. They should treat each other as extensions of their own team and provide a comprehensive list of value propositions including a sophisticated channel dedicated product portfolio, training courses and channel marketing programmes.”
UPS as a Service
One option that is on the horizon is UPS as a Service – but perhaps not for a few years. “I think we will not see this in the UK for another few years via the channel,” says Rebecca. “However, I’m hearing great things from the Exertis Enterprise teams in the Nordics about this type of offering. The UK tend to be slightly later adopters of technology changes.”
Trends
Looking at the nearer future, there are various emerging and ongoing trends in the UPS sector that resellers should be aware of.
Rebecca says that in 2025, the main trend in the market will be: “AI AI AI, there’s no other trend that is going to change the UPS market more,” she says. “More power requires more power support, it’s as simple as that. How we choose to do so is a different matter.”
Martin says there are several emerging and ongoing trends that resellers should be aware of. “We have recently seen, and expect to see over the coming year, increasing demand for UPS systems using lithium-ion batteries,” he says. “The benefits are that customers can maximise power density in a smaller footprint and improve ROI because they have a longer lifespan than traditional valve regulated lead-acid batteries. They also offer strong technical advantages such as a wide operating temperature range and come with an advanced integrated battery management system (BMS) which provides an accurate picture of the battery’s health and runtime and protects the battery cells against current, temperature, and over- or under-charging. The BMS continuously adjusts battery charging to make the most out of performance and battery life.
“Looking slightly further ahead, hydrogen fuel cell technology offers potential for back up loads as well as off-grid or primary power that is reliable and sustainable for combined heat and power applications, grid and micro-grid support.”
With increasing numbers of businesses reliant on electronic equipment to conduct their business, a power outage – even for a short time – can cause significant problems. This is where uninterruptable power supplies come in – and it is something resellers should be offering to customers.
Most businesses, regardless of sector, now rely on electricity. Whether it is for computers or machinery, most are electrically powered. This means that a stable power supply is crucial for the smooth running of the business as power outages can cause significant damage.
Power cuts are an ever-present threat. Martin Ryder, channel sales director Northern Europe at Vertiv, notes that UKPower says that almost 66% of UK residents have encountered power cuts in their local areas, with nearly 23% indicating power cuts happening annually.
“There are three main factors that have affected the energy industry in the UK, causing new threats to the power landscape: climate change directly affecting the fuel supply, wasting energy is making headlines, natural energy production as well as the physical resilience of current and future energy infrastructure,” he says. “Heatwaves and droughts are already putting existing energy generation under stress. The war in Ukraine has led to supply shortages of power and increased energy costs.
“Finally, cybersecurity is continuing to be a threat to the energy industry and is a major concern for governments and organisations.”
With the threat of power outages there, it means businesses should have a plan in place to ensure that if one does happen, their operations should not be affected, and this is where uninterruptable power supplies (UPS) come in.
Cost of an outage
“For businesses, a dependable UPS is crucial in protecting against power outages, brownouts and other disruptions that can damage electronic equipment and hinder operations,” says Martin. “The absence of a UPS can lead to serious consequences, including lost data, ruined hardware and total system breakdowns. These factors impact productivity, revenue, brand reputation and safety, particularly in vital environments such as hospitals and transportation networks.”
Russell Pritchard, UK sales manager at Central Power Services, agrees that power interruptions are a growing concern for businesses in the UK. “Particularly as extreme weather events become more severe and unpredictable,” he says. “With limited electricity capacity and energy demand on the rise, the risk of outages is increasing. Most businesses have some reliance on data servers and need to be prepared.
“The consequences of a power cut can be severe. Operationally, a sudden loss of power can bring business activities to a halt. Offices are left in darkness, safety and security systems inoperative, and IT infrastructure – including data servers – become unresponsive. Even brief downtime can cause extensive backlogs, delaying service delivery and disrupting workflow. Businesses can lose thousands of pounds per hour along with facing reputational damage.”
Rebecca Slade, business unit manager – infrastructure at Exertis Enterprise, adds: “Given the instability of power due to the global climate, I would say that all businesses should mitigate against these circumstances,” she says.
“Businesses can expect losses in productivity; the cost can escalate into the hundreds of thousands dependent on the size of the business. Having a back up mechanism saves costs to a business and the possible loss of customers.”
Robust continuity strategy
Russell adds that to mitigate the risks, businesses need a robust power continuity strategy. “Standby generators and UPS systems are key solutions,” he says. “UPS systems can play a crucial role in protecting data servers by providing a business-as-usual scenario whilst the standby generator goes through its starting and changeover sequence, preventing potential data loss that could take days to recover from.
“However, UPS solutions are typically short-term measures, dependent on battery capacity. A standby generator can be a longer-term solution provided it is properly maintained, with fuel and oil levels kept ready.
“In 2025, the most prepared businesses will use the first half of the year, while weather is mild, to prepare their backup power solutions. Waiting until severe weather occurs can make it too late to prevent serious disruption. A proactive approach to power continuity is essential to ensuring operational stability, financial security, and customer confidence.”
What resellers should be offering
Martin says that the need for UPS is something that resellers should be discussing with their customers. “With so much of a business’ operation relying on technology, it is crucial for enterprises to have a reliable, efficient power supply to keep systems running smoothly,” he says.
“With downtime costing organisations greatly in monetary and reputational terms, a UPS coupled with the associated battery backup is an essential component of any power management strategy, providing backup power in case of outages or other disruptions. Resellers who are supplying any form of critical IT hardware, should see UPS, as well as associated critical infrastructure products such as PDU’s, as an opportunity for increased attach rate and additional revenue streams.”
Rebecca says that resellers should be looking at the future demands of the markets. “It’s no longer the case that a small UPS will do the job, rack density is multiplying at a level we haven’t seen before due to the demands of HPC and the market needs to react by asking the question as to the actual needs of the client,” she says.
She adds that resellers should be asking customers about the application of it. “Rack density is about to move dramatically due to the advances in AI, all of a sudden everyone is going to require 3-phase solutions to support the compute power they have in their rack and the channel needs to be ready for that,” she says. “Exertis Enterprise is ready to support our partners in this and we are excited by this new chapter in the datacentre space.”
Entering the market
With the need for UPS growing among businesses, it is a market that resellers should look at getting into, and the barriers to entry are not that high.
“Resellers should look for partners that are equipped with industry-leading global portfolios of critical infrastructure solutions and simplify what can often be a complex path to navigate,” says Martin. “The vendor should have a clear strategy to drive channel growth through investment, industry leading and reliable products, extensive training and easy to implement, practical marketing campaigns. It is beneficial for resellers if partners have many years of experience and an established global footprint, including dedicated customer support. The solutions should also be margin rich, providing channel partners with flexibility.
“At the core should be good communication and solid partnerships. Vendors should equip their partners with what they need to succeed and work to stay in step as their business and the market changes. Choose a vendor that is committed to rewarding partners and consistently and seamlessly share high quality leads. They should treat each other as extensions of their own team and provide a comprehensive list of value propositions including a sophisticated channel dedicated product portfolio, training courses and channel marketing programmes.”
UPS as a Service
One option that is on the horizon is UPS as a Service – but perhaps not for a few years. “I think we will not see this in the UK for another few years via the channel,” says Rebecca. “However, I’m hearing great things from the Exertis Enterprise teams in the Nordics about this type of offering. The UK tend to be slightly later adopters of technology changes.”
Trends
Looking at the nearer future, there are various emerging and ongoing trends in the UPS sector that resellers should be aware of.
Rebecca says that in 2025, the main trend in the market will be: “AI AI AI, there’s no other trend that is going to change the UPS market more,” she says. “More power requires more power support, it’s as simple as that. How we choose to do so is a different matter.”
Martin says there are several emerging and ongoing trends that resellers should be aware of. “We have recently seen, and expect to see over the coming year, increasing demand for UPS systems using lithium-ion batteries,” he says. “The benefits are that customers can maximise power density in a smaller footprint and improve ROI because they have a longer lifespan than traditional valve regulated lead-acid batteries. They also offer strong technical advantages such as a wide operating temperature range and come with an advanced integrated battery management system (BMS) which provides an accurate picture of the battery’s health and runtime and protects the battery cells against current, temperature, and over- or under-charging. The BMS continuously adjusts battery charging to make the most out of performance and battery life.
“Looking slightly further ahead, hydrogen fuel cell technology offers potential for back up loads as well as off-grid or primary power that is reliable and sustainable for combined heat and power applications, grid and micro-grid support.”
