The rapid growth of always-on applications at the edge in commercial and industrial environments demands a flexible power infrastructure that can scale with the workload. When implementing these applications, it makes sense to deploy flexible, easy-to-scale uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs) because loads aren’t always precisely defined and tend to evolve very quickly, often in unexpected ways.
Global spending on edge computing is growing at a 13.8% annual rate and will reach $378 billion by 2028, according to an IDC forecast. The projected growth will come from industries such as retail, manufacturing, healthcare, and utilities wanting to analyze data closer to the source to better understand their processes, IDC posits.
The rapid growth demonstrates just how critical these environments have become—and why they need UPS solutions designed for resilience, flexibility, and availability without added complexity. Edge computing environments, whether remote or compact, increasingly support critical applications. Although they may be mostly unstaffed or have minimal IT support, these environments are high-stakes and have little tolerance for downtime.
For example, in a factory or hospital, milliseconds count. On a production line, edge computing enables sensors and cameras to detect defects instantly and adjust machinery in real time, preventing waste and downtime. In healthcare, local data processing supports faster diagnoses and safeguards patient information.
Regardless of industry, business continuity is essential for always-on applications, making flexible medium-range power backup devices a necessity. UPSs at the edge play a key role in ensuring business continuity, and they should be designed for high availability while being easy to maintain.
Application-driven resilience with UPSs at the edge
Omdia projects that edge and distributed IT environments globally will grow at a rate of 7 to 8% annually through 2029, faster than global GDP growth. This expansion, even amid economic headwinds, demonstrates the vital role these environments play in digital transformation. Commercial and industrial organizations run a variety of edge applications, some of which support real-time or near-real-time functionality. This could include anything from systems managing mobile communications for telecom companies to warehouse logistics and classroom applications in schools.
An outage can be highly disruptive. In manufacturing, a disruption can lead to lost products, reduced productivity, and safety issues. Applications must continue running even during power failures and other disruptions, so they rely heavily on business continuity systems, including the UPS.
UPSs at the edge need to scale because workloads tend to grow, eventually requiring additional power backup capacity. However, rather than making large upfront investments in UPSs when deploying applications, many organizations prefer the flexibility to deploy only the power backup capacity they need. Modular UPS solutions enable this by allowing the initial deployment of the required capacity and scaling as needed by adding modules without the need to replace core infrastructure.
Schneider Electric’s Live Swap capability was designed for these situations. Live Swap is a touch-safe process that allows technicians to add and remove UPS power and battery modules without bypassing or shutting down the UPS unit. The capability ensures availability and business continuity while maintaining technician safety.
Redundancy safeguards uptime
To prevent downtime at the edge, redundancy and resilience are essential. Schneider’s Easy UPS 3-Phase Modular systems feature redundant main controllers that help ensure availability and eliminate a single point of failure. If one controller fails, the other takes over to keep the system running without interruptions.
Easy UPS 3-Phase Modular also has an embedded Network Management Card (NMC) with an optional second card, providing redundancy at the communication layer. This feature offers parallel communication channels for monitoring, remote diagnostics, and seamless integration into IT ecosystems, all of which are vital at remote sites with limited support.
Flexibility and availability at the edge
In 2024, the global UPS market reached $12.95 billion, driven by the growth of AI data centers and edge deployments. While high-capacity UPS systems serve hyperscale environments, low- and mid-capacity systems, such as Easy UPS 3-Phase Modular, are critical for distributed IT and edge sites, offering flexibility, availability, and scalability in a simplified form.
Uptime is essential in edge and distributed IT systems. With Easy UPS 3-Phase Modular, organizations achieve business continuity at the edge by design, not just backup power. The system’s built-in flexibility and scalability empower organizations to grow their edge environments as technology demands evolve. Learn more about how the Easy UPS 3-Phase Modular can support your edge infrastructure needs.
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