With so many UPS maintenance companies available, we offer data centre managers some top tips for choosing the best coverage.
According to the Uptime Institute, serious data centre downtime in on the up. Nearly 1-in-3 sites (31%) have experienced an IT incident this year, up from 25% in 2017.
And with harsher winter weather just around the corner, the probability of power problems is only likely to increase.
A robust preventive UPS maintenance plan is the most effective way to safeguard against such damaging downtime
But not all UPS maintenance companies are made equal. The services on offer, and the quality of provision, can vary significantly.
Riello UPS General Manager Leo Craig shares some of his 30+ years of experience in the critical power protection industry with readers of Data Centre Review (DCR) to help them make the most informed choice.
How To Find The Best UPS Maintenance Provider Near Me
To start with, the article outlines why a UPS maintenance contract offers enhanced protection compared to a standard warranty.
It includes guaranteed emergency response times when disaster strikes and spells out the levels of coverage you’ll receive.
However, it’s essential data centre managers double-check the T&Cs as some contracts can turn out to be full of get of clauses, caveats and restrictive conditions.
Leo suggests several key questions to ask UPS maintenance companies before entering into any official service level agreement.
One of the most important points to clarify is what the emergency response will be.
Most UPS companies will offer a range from, say, 12 working down to 4 clock hours. But do you know what you’ll actually get? You might think the ‘response’ will be an engineer on-site solving the problem. In reality, it might only be an automated email notification saying your problem has been noted.
It’s a big difference between the two!
Through our Diamond contract, Riello UPS is actually the first UPS maintenance company in the UK to commit to not just a response time, but a guaranteed fix time too – 4 and 8 hours respectively.
Other topics operators must tackle include how quickly will they get spare parts, and are the service engineers used to carry out UPS maintenance fully-trained and competent.
Read the full piece about UPS maintenance companies in November’s DCR magazine
