By George Senzere, solutions architect: secure power, Schneider Electric.
South Africa’s electric grid goes hand in hand with unpredictability and downright volatility at times. And as we are all too aware, a less reliable grid translates to more frequent blackouts, which directly impacts business and residential communities.
George Senzere.
It is hard to accomplish anything in the modern world without electricity. And with many organisations following a hybrid work model, backup power has become non-negotiable. To this end, backup power such as UPSs should therefore become part of electrical contractors’ proposals when tendering for a business project or working on a residential contract.
Adding a UPS to your quote is relatively straightforward and you can do the installation yourself. If you need assistance to plan and size the most suitable UPS for the job, you can work with a channel partner of a reputable UPS brand to select and propose the appropriate option. For larger facilities, Schneider Electric works hand in hand with its channel partners to ensure your UPS installation is done properly and to the highest standard.
Additionally, if a UPS is not requested in a project, you can recommend it as an additional value-add for your electrical upgrade or installation points. Here are some important points which should form part of your proposal:
• What are the short- and long-term financial impacts on the business if the power goes out?
• How would an outage impact the customer’s operations?
• Do life-safety risks increase when there is a power outage?
• What’s the downtime cost of a production machine?
By providing UPS technology, you can expand the scope of your services through long-term contracts that also include UPS servicing and remote monitoring. Most of Schneider Electric’s large and industrial UPS have data-capture and monitoring capabilities in order to optimise their health and performance.
Furthermore, you can deliver the monitoring services or sub-contract to a vendor, such as Schneider Electric, to monitor backup operations while you maintain contact with the customer. Essentially, as an electrical contractor, you could expand your services by moving into the managed service provider space and thereby increase your business margins.
Installation, as well as post-implementation monitoring and maintenance services, will keep you linked to the customer for the long term. You can use these services as a differentiator over other contractors, ensuring you can foster a long-lasting and mutually beneficial relationship with your customer.
Ultimately, by proposing a backup solution such as UPS, you are showing initiative and forward-thinking in protecting your customer’s valuable assets and productivity environments.
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