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“Don’t fix it if it isn’t broke,” is a great philosophy when the likelihood of failure is low and the cost of failure is even lower. That’s why some industries can run to fail, because the difference in 2 minutes, 2 hours, or even 2 days doesn’t have a significant impact. So why would they invest ahead of time, when they could wait until it’s absolutely needed?
Not so for data centers. This is why most operators are continuously looking for ways to add redundancy and prevent even the smallest interruption. Unfortunately the industry is aging, which means facilities and equipment are also aging, adding new risks and needed counter measures each day. This isn’t a problem when money is always available and implementation is 100% certain, but that’s rarely the case.
Today, strategic investments in lifecyle services are vital to maintain good equipment, modernize older equipment, and replace end of life equipment. This allows each dollar to go further, since the individual parts of a single unit don’t age at the same rate. This is why we replace batteries more often than fans, and capacitors prior to replacing the unit. Fortunately, some units are built to last longer, which means other components may now need attention (just like the capacitors you expect to replace) if you want to realize the full life expectancy.
Your OEM vendor will have programs to help replace individual parts. They may also have bundled offers that address the key concerns within each unit. This may come in the form of spare parts kits, or even turnkey upgrades that include the parts, labor and disposal. In the end, it’s important to focus your upgrades on the components that create the most risk, and keep the components, like the UPS frame, that rarely causes a failure.
APC by Schneider Electric offers modernization services for data centers of all sizes. This can be done through individual components, full parts kits, custom built retrofits, and other replacement programs to make your data center’s next evolution that much easier and less costly. Schneider Electric’s Modular Power Revitalization Service (MPRS) is designed to strategically upgrade key components within APC Symmetra PX and Symmetra MW modular UPS systems. This includes all the labor, disposal and the following years service plan to ensure each unit not only replaces older components that are more likely to fail, but also evaluate the unit over the next 12 months and provide a full PM to ensure it continually operates at an optimum level.
MPRS enables enterprises to proactively upgrade UPS components before they fail, but making the service easy to execute and at a much more attractive price than individual components or a newly installed UPS. The work is performed by a Schneider Electric CPCS-certified service professional, who will not only replace the hardware, but configure the system, verify functionality, and dispose of used components in an environmentally responsible way.
Another advantage of the MPRS service is that enterprises can modernize with high-efficiency power modules that are more reliable and also save on utility costs. The average efficiency increase is about 2% – 3%, which means this service will pay for itself within a short period of time.
Modernization keeps your data center’s power supply healthy and operational while reducing total cost of ownership. An experienced data center equipment and services vendor such as APC by Schneider Electric has the expertise to manage this crucial but frequently overlooked component of the data center lifecycle.
As you expect more years out of your equipment, start learning about what programs are available and build your budget accordingly. For every dollar you save on not replacing something before it’s time, you may need to invest a small portion to ensure you get there without an easily avoidable interruption.
Learn more about APC by Schneider Electric’s Modular Power Revitalization Service here.