Focusing on integrate solutions

As many vendors continue to ramp up their activities in the UPS and data centre power management solutions market in the Middle East, the call from many enterprise organisations in the region is for vendors in this segement to start providing integrated solutions that help in managing power and IT environments efficiently.

For UPS and data centre power management solutions vendor Tripp Lite, the call has not only come at the company’s main strategy for this year is to provider enterprise customers with integrated data centre power management solutions.

Vipin Sharma, VP of EEMEA and India sales at Tripp says while many companies offer UPSes and inverters, very few have the experience and expertise required to design, produce and support product lines that are critical such as those found in the enterprise environment. Sharma says even fewer are vendors that are capable of providing a complete data centre power management solution. “I wish to point out that Tripp Lite's experience is critical in the enterprise environment,” he says.

Sharma goes on to say that as power consumption and energy efficiency are some of the issues organisations are grappling with in their data centre environments, Tripp Lite is building greater efficiency into its UPS designs. An example, according to Sharma is Tripp Lite’s SmartOnline UPS systems with models that provide up to 97% efficiency in economy mode. “This can result in an efficiency increase of 10% or more versus comparable online double conversion UPS systems from competing vendors,” he notes. “We have concentrated on improving the efficiency of all of our UPS product lines. The continued development of our Power Alert Power Management software suite is free with every UPS and, monitors and controls up to 250 UPSes on the network.”

In addition, Sharma explains that the PDU line provides superior load control by enabling turn on, turn off, recycle or lock-out power to each individual outlet, programmable or real-time outlet power control via built-in Web/network monitoring and control card. Consequently, he says that network managers can monitor control and manage their loads with greater ease, thereby increasing efficiency.

Enterprise & channel strategy

Sharma says while Tripp Lite’s cornerstone remains its UPS product array, the company continues to expand its lines of integrated solutions for the enterprise customer including: KVM Switches, PDUs, a full array of racks and accessories, networking cables and connectivity lines from USB through fibre optic. “Our intention in the region is to provide the enterprise customer with everything they need to connect, protect and organise their data centre infrastructure,” he says.

He emphasises that the company will remain focused on educating and training its channel partners to enhance their ability to provide their customers with a tailor made solution rather than simply products.

He adds that on the customer front, Tripp Lite is addressing specific needs in key applications. Tripp Lite is targeting five major applications that include:

• Enterprise Solutions for Small & Medium Business

• Datacenter & Three Phase Power

• POS & Kiosk Power Management

• Medical and Laboratory

• Renewable Energy

Sharma points out that Tripp Lite will continue to expand energy efficient designs in all product lines. “The Middle East region can also expect new UPS lines which are in development that will offer greater control and flexibility in their environments in the coming months.,” he says.

Green initiatives

As organisations in the Middle East region continue to make progress in embracing green technology initiatives, Sharma believes that vendors especially those that play in the data centre power management solutions should continue to build better and more efficient “green” elements into their designs and solutions. “I truly believe that Middle Eastern organisations will adopt them such solutions and I don’t think there is anyone who doesn’t understand or embrace the need to build more efficiency or environmental responsibility into the data centre,” he observes.

He adds that in addition to developing products that are embedded with green technologies, Tripp Lite is using its channel community to reach out with the education awareness campaigns that aim at empowering resellers to in turn educate their clients on green technology initiatives. “We have a series of seminars and road shows planned complimenting our ongoing training and channel development programme,” he says. “We have developed key strategic partners, Golden Resellers, who are certified in all key elements of Tripp Lite's green technology initiatives.”

Sharma says as part of Tripp Lite’s commitment to the direction of “green”, all its products are RoHS complaint, which means they adhere to strict standards in the reduction of six hazardous substances. “UPSes are commonly used in the IT industry and as such would normally be considered to fall under WEEE Category 3. However, the function of a UPS is to monitor the supplied power and control any fluctuations in that supply,” he says. “Therefore the most appropriate category would be WEEE Category 9 which is outside the scope of RoHS. Despite the fact that UPSes fall under Category 9 of WEEE which does not currently require RoHS conformance, Tripp Lite has chosen to comply fully with RoHS regulations thereby eliminating the use of toxic elements in its UPS range. Unfortunately, not all UPS vendors are choosing to comply with RoHS.”

In addition, he says Tripp Lite is taking the necessary measures to continue expansion of its compliance with what it considers responsible environmental regulation. Tripp Lite has also incorporated the “economy mode setting” – a ‘green’ feature to most of its DC UPS, Sharma adds

Vertical focus

Sharma says the medical industry is a key growth segment in this region and one of the major market on Tripp Lite’s radar “We have specific tailored products for these markets, he says.

The second market according to Sharma is renewable energy which is perfectly suited for Tripp Lite’s inverter solutions range. “We have participated in this market for over 10 years and have much to offer to its players,” he says. “The Retail POS & Kiosk segment are also under our spotlight. In fact, the UAE is the third largest retail market in the world and we intend to target this market more effectively in the coming months.”

He adds that enterprises solutions which encompass a wide range of products like racks, KVM, PDU, cables along with UPSes will also be one of the company’s driving market. “We hope that we will be able to grow in it as well. Data centres will be also be a growth market for our high end three phase products and connectivity products. “The growth mostly will be from small and middle business segment then enterprise solutions followed by renewable energy solutions and medical/lab applications,” he concludes