News Archive: Universal Power Systems is building up to provide the perfect complement to APC products and solutions
APC website press release 11/1/07
“To understand why we’ve built this business around APC, you’d have to know a little about our history,” says Chris Smith, sales and marketing director at Loughborough-based Universal Power Systems Limited.
The company was formed over 20 years ago to provide specialist and independent advice regarding uninterruptible power supplies (UPS): “We aimed to sit on the side of the customer, understand the real need and provide a ‘best of breed’ solution for that exact requirement,” explains Smith. “Consequently we were continually benchmarking the performance of various manufacturers’ equipment, so that we could compare specifications and identify the best fit for the customer.”
It didn’t take too long for manufacturers to cotton on to Universal Power Systems and soon the company was being supplied beta units for review. The company based its reputation on this engineering pedigree, and developed a solutions business for clients seeking end-to-end power systems.
“These systems might consist of switchgear, transformers, generators, UPS and ancillary equipment. We would bring all of the parts together at our facility, test them, configure the system and test again. Any issues could be rectified in this environment, from a dented panel to a major component failure or any miscalculation. Customers could then come and see the system in operation, which in turn presented the ideal opportunity for training on all equipment prior to installation and commissioning at the customer’s premises.”
With a large investment in design engineers working to ISO 9001, the company was also an innovator. By the late ‘80’s, Universal Power Systems was unique in having developed a remote monitoring package which used pagers for alerting any changes in conditions within power systems it had supplied. The company had also introduced preventative maintenance contracts to extend the useful lifetime of its systems and to help reduce the total cost of ownership.
“In the early ‘90’s our lives started to change when we were sent a Silcon unit for evaluation. We thought Silcon was a real step forward in UPS technology. So much so that we signed up as service partners, integrated the unit into a system we were proposing to Railtrack and promptly won a large contract for the provision of continuous power for railway signalling. In fact, we control the lights at Europe’s busiest stretch of rail network - Clapham Junction!”
When APC bought Silcon, things just started to get better. “Any concerns we may have had about APC’s ability to play in the large power UPS were swept aside when they introduced Symmetra. It blew our socks off with innovations like its modular architecture and hot swappable, modular construction. One of APC’s greatest strengths is customer driven R&D, and we became convinced that they were going to be a dominant force in this market. We made the decision to strengthen our relationship with APC.”
“Since that point we have indeed got closer. We’ve enjoyed a number of notable firsts; first UK company to become a High Power Partner, first to become a Service Partner and first to become an APC Gold Partner. It’s a testimony that for the last three years we haven’t supplied a UPS from any other manufacturer. Since the introduction of InfraStruXure architecture we’ve positioned ourselves as NCPI specialists and shaped our business for the data centre market. It’s been a successful move and in Q4 2005 we joined a select group of APC partners when we shipped over $1m of InfraStruXure equipment. Indeed we are now exclusively APC and only provide products and services from other companies, which complement APC. These even include whole data centres – from the building down”
Key to this success has been Universal Power Systems’s commitment to, and use of the various APC programmes available to help develop business. “Our solution centre, for instance, has recently been refurbished with all the latest InfraStruXure equipment including NetBotz security devices, NetShelter SX racks, Symmetra and SmartUPS rack mounted uninterruptible power supplies and In-Row Cooling products. We’ve been told that this is the best specified APC demo centre in Europe, and with the addition of a few more products it will be even better.”
Smith continues; “The solution centre has become a vital investment because it allows potential customers to get to grips with the equipment, which they obviously cannot do at live reference sites. We’ve made the facility available to APC personnel to help with their customers too, because it’s been our experience that once a company has had experience of the kit it almost certainly results in a sale.”
“Universal Power Systems has always been expert in building solutions based on complementary product and service sets. APC’s InfraStruXure architecture for on-demand data centres has been central to Universal Power Systems developing skillsets which not only add value for the customer, but provide us with incremental revenues. We have an enviable customer base which includes many blue chip companies; most have been with us for a long time. We look forward to continued award-winning success as we further develop our business with APC.”