We’ve all been there before: a power blink, surge, or outage strikes in the middle of a busy work day, right after you’ve spent a couple of hours on an important document. If you’re using a laptop, your work will be preserved. But if you’re using a desktop, even a quick power blip or spike can cause data loss.
Losing your own work is one thing. Even worse is a power outage that knocks entire servers or networks offline. There’s one way to mitigate such a loss, however: with a reliable uninterruptible power supply, or UPS unit. Consider a UPS, a battery backup that protects your mission-critical technology, providing power to any device plugged into it, even when the regular source of power drops off.
If you aren’t using a UPS to protect against power outages and protect your systems, it’s time to call a trusted IT provider who can help you secure your data, your devices, and your business. But if you’re thinking, “I’ve got the battery backup thing covered,” the next question to ask is, “How old is my UPS?”
Since battery backups are so infrequently used, it’s easy to neglect their health—even to forget about how long they’ve been around. UPS units often run through the regular life cycle of their built-in battery in three to four years, losing the juice necessary to protect your devices. That life cycle can be shortened by frequent discharge and charge events, which affect voltage regulation and battery capacity.
The length of time your UPS can sustain the systems plugged into it varies, but at a minimum, it should allow you to save your work and shut down machines properly. But a dying UPS or failing battery can negatively affect that desired outcome. And sometimes that revelation won’t arrive until the most critical moment when a failsafe is needed most.
That’s why it’s so important to work with an IT provider to implement a smart strategy for your battery backups. At CMIT Solutions, we treat our clients’ UPS units with the same attention and care as computers, smartphones, tablets, and servers.
We can run equipment assessments that analyze the remaining life of UPS units and their batteries while implementing forward-thinking replacement plans. We can provide technical support that keeps your battery backup (and the devices plugged into it) running well. We can identify energy efficiencies that save your business money.
Most importantly, we incorporate UPS units and battery backups as just one component of an overarching strategy of data protection and cybersecurity. Want to know more about how uninterruptible power supplies can protect your business? Not sure how old your UPS units are? Suspect a failing battery could affect your technology? Contact CMIT Solutions today. We worry about IT so you don’t have to.