When you run a business, you do your best to protect yourself from any potential downtime. You probably have some form of staffing, and even some IT personnel on call, even out of hours, to keep things running as smoothly as possible.
But what can you do when you have no direct control over the cause of potential downtime? Power cuts are an increasing issue with even local authorities warning of their increasing likelihood. So what is changing to cause this, and is there anything you can do about it?
Why is this more of a problem now?
There are a number of issues contributing to the rise in power cuts, but quite a few boil down to a simple increase in demand. The power grid is designed around relatively predictable usage, so any sudden increase or sharp decrease in demand can cause issues, illustrated perfectly by your lights dimming for a few seconds as everyone in the neighbourhood makes a cup of tea during half time. The power grid in the UK is ageing, and some have predicted that new capacity cannot be created to match demand.
Even ignoring capacity, distribution infrastructure is ageing, and may not be maintained as well as it could be, meaning distribution-related power cuts could be increasing. Distribution networks are also susceptible to accident or negligence, and you’ll lose just as much time if someone runs their car into a pole carrying power lines, or some roadworks cut an underground cable.
How to protect your business
Accepting that power cuts may become a fact of life is the first step, and then finding an Eaton UPS distributor with a solid reputation, such as http://www.cppsales.com/Eaton_UPS_Systems___Accessories-catid17. You can’t stop a power cut from happening, but you can make sure your business critical infrastructure keeps right on going through investment in good quality UPS.
If you own the building your business is housed in, alternative power generation might give you some degree of flexibility, as well as contributing to ‘greening’ your business, but the initial investment will be much higher than installing backup power supplies. Regardless of what sort of direction you take, it will pay for itself quickly if power cuts do become common, as even a few hours of downtime could cost thousands of pounds, even for a fairly modest business.
