Changing trends in UPS' and how customers need to be beware while choosing a UPS:
UPS market can perhaps be classified into four segments:

a) The vanilla home PC 500 VA segment
b) Line interactive range from 500 VA to 2KVA
c) Onlines from 1 to 20 KVA
d) Onlines above 20 KVA to 500 KVA Vanilla 500 VA UPS

Vanilla 500 VA UPS

  If we look at the first segment the products have been undergoing dramatic changes with price pressure on vendors. Unlike in PC industry where the price reduction is also simultaneously accomplished with better technology, the UPS industry is not so. In order to meet the price points of customer expectations, vendors resort to reduced components thereby reduced protection levels for the connected load.
An entry level UPS with decent protection should be available from reputed vendors at around Rs. 3,000 to 3,500.

  The bill of material and production over heads will not perhaps allow the vendor to price the product lower than this, if the product has all the necessary protections to provide decent protection to the connected load.

  Also obsolecense in UPS is not as fast as it happens in PCs. An average user today at least uses the UPS' for around five years. Hence, it will be prudent for the buyers to buy from reliable vendor paying marginally higher price as the product is going to be used for five years.

  Further more, it is surprising that still home PC buyers accept whatever UPS that is priced cheaper without realizing that the UPS is going to actually protect their 40-50k investment on PC.

  With price difference between UPS' made by unorganized sector being only around R's. 1,000 or so, it perhaps will be easier buying the UPS that is from a long term vendor and which is supported well in that region.

Line interactive from 500 VA 2 KVA

  These products are primarily focused on SMEs with a PC population of around six to 10 PC's with a server. Though the number of PC's could be lesser, the dependence on these PC's is very high. These users require as much reliabilty as a mission critical application requires. Further moore this segment could have many bottlenecks in regard to location where they are located and the power situation there, non availability of generator, continuous low voltages etc.

  Hence, both the vendors and the customers will be happy if a right featured line interactive is positioned and supplied to this segment of users. Namely, the UPS should have a minimum input range of atleast 150-275 volts and the flexibility of short and longer backup times.

Online 1 KVA to 20 KVA

  These are positioned towards users who have some True servers may be 3-4 of True servers for their computerization: Also they have around 10-6- workstations/nodes where perhaps computerization is the heartbeat of the organization.

There are two variants that exists in this capacity range:
a)Non intelligent conventional online's.
b) Intelligent microprocessor based onlines

  Theoretically both will perhaps provide the same kind of power/data protection but with varying investments. In the case of non intelligent conventional onlines, the initial investment is much lower but the recurring cost could be much higher. Most of the non-intelligent conventional onlines deliver poor efficiency thereby resulting in marginally higher electricity bills month after month. In a rough estimated calculation, a conventional non intelligent UPS capacity of 5 KVA can result in at least around R's. 1,500 per month on additional electricity charges (for a eight working. Hence, it will be hours a day with a capacity utilisation of around 90 percent of 5 KVA) compared to intelligent onlines operating at higher efficiency.

  Conventional onlines cannot be expected be as intelligent as microprocessor based onlines. But at times even without taking into account the benefits of intelligent features that a microprocessor based UPSs offer, the additional electricity overheads alone can make the conventional UPS much more costlier over a period of five year life of UPS.

  Intelligent onlines on the other hand generally are highly efficient and can be installed perhaps even in the server rooms as they emit lesser noise and heat. Also their data logging features and self diagnosis and software monitoring features enhance the reliability of the product many a times.

  Today the customers are also moving towards products that requires less or no service visits from the vendors side. Time is actually treated money now.

Above 20 KVA to 500 KVA

  Software houses, call centers, corporate offices of major organizations in nutshell where there is a PC on every desk and the no of people in that particular building is more than 100, these capacities are bought.

  Though there are many a indigenously made products in these segments, by and large the products that are imported and supported here in our country offer more features and much better product.
Also on customs duty exemption prices, the prices are only marginally higher than indigenously made products.

  Having said all the above it will be useful for the customer to perhaps consider the following while making a decision to buy a UPS of relevant capacity:

Vanilla 500 VA

• Look for input window-minimum 150-275
• Look for warranty period
• Look for on-site support
• Look for no of sockets behind the UPS (minimum 3-44)
• Look for output voltage window - minimum 195-245
• Look for spike handling capability (ensure that spike buster need not be bought separately)
  
  Line interactive 500 VA to 2 KVA
  
  All the above will hold good but additionally
• Look for the no of machines in field of similar capacities
• It is worthwhile talking to atleast four or five clients to check the vendors support levels.
• Look for extending the backup time on a future date without modifications.
• Be specific on backup time and get written proposals on AH capacity of the battery and the load for which what backup time etc.

Online 1 KVA to 20 KVA

• Look for vendors who are atleast 4-5 years old in the market in this industry
• Better of choosing vendors main business is that of UPS.
• Visit existing customer sites and check with them whether committed deliverables are delivered in time.
• Atleast talk to 10-15 existing users
• Prepared to pay premium for better technology products. They end up saving much higher money in the long run.
• Be clear on SLA (service level agreement)

Courtesy : R Aravindan, Director, Compact Systems Pvt.Ltd.