By George Senzere, solutions architect, Secure Power at Schneider Electric

South Africa’s electric grid goes hand in hand with unpredictability and downright volatility at times. And as we’re all too aware, a less reliable grid translates to more frequent blackouts, which directly impacts business and residential communities. 

It’s hard to accomplish anything in the modern world without electricity. And with many organisations following 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 we work hand in hand with our channel partners to ensure your UPS installation is done properly and to the highest standard.

Additionally, if a UPS is not requested in project, you can recommend it as an additional value add your electrical upgrade or installation points. Here are some important points which should form part of your proposal:

• What is the short-term and long-term financial impact 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?
• In the case of a high-end residential customer, how would they benefit from UPS for  communications, surveillance, gaming, remote work, and remote learning?
• 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 service and remote monitoring. Most of our large and  industrial UPS have data-capture and monitoring capabilities in order to optimise its 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 increase your business margins.

Installation and 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 from contractors which is a major plus, 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 protection customer’s valuable assets and productivity environments.