|
Powering ahead
UPS vendors are looking to the SMB segment for sales, says
Atanu Kumar Das
 As
per IDC India’s estimates, 228,088 UPS systems valued at Rs 1,208.1 million
shipped to end users through channels for the JAS 2004 quarter. This represented
a sequential growth of nearly 14 percent in unit terms, while in terms of value,
the growth was nearly nine percent.
In terms of technology, the share of traditional Line Interactive Systems increased
over the previous quarter, with absolute volumes going up by almost 19 percent.
Online UPS systems, on the other hand, suffered a sharp fall of 12 percent in
unit shipments during this period. Capacity-wise, the maximum growth was seen
in the sub 600 KVA category, which posted a 20 percent growth in unit shipments
over the previous quarter.
Meanwhile, the 2.1 to 5 KVA segment saw a fall in unit shipments.
National brands consolidated their market share to 58 percent in JAS 2004 up
by seven percentage points from the previous quarter. The share of regional
players went down by about four percentage points sequentially but this was
due to inclusion of Microtek among the national brands after the vendor increased
its presence in terms of geographical coverage over the past few quarters.
Tapping enterprises
As per MAIT, the UPS market size touched Rs 1,400 crore in the year ending 2003-2004.
Of this market, the sub-5 KVA segment, comprising home, SOHO and SMB users,
constitutes Rs 745 crore. The enterprise segment accounts for the remaining
Rs 650 crore.
According to Sandeep Nair, Managing Director, Emerson Network Power (India),
the UPS market is poised for substantial growth in coming years. In India, the
five cities of Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata and Bangalore have been the
largest markets for PCs and UPSs. However, over the past few months, there has
been a shift towards B and C Class cities such as Pune, Chandigarh, Lucknow,
Hyderabad and Jaipur. This is primarily due to the poor quality of power, and
the upward spiral in terms of PC penetration in these cities.
As part of its growth strategy, Emerson Network Power (India) unveiled a B and
C class city ‘Reach Out’ plan last year to tap the demand in these
cities. For fulfilling this objective, Emerson has set-up operations in cities
such as Pune, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Cochin, Chandigarh, Lucknow,
Indore, Guwahati, and Jamshedpur.
“Emerson has emerged a clear leader in the enterprise segment with a market
share of over 30 percent. In the SOHO market we plan to launch new products,”
reveals Nair. Emerson’s new range of Network Uptime Solutions will target
all business segments across the power, engineering and service sectors.
Deepak Sharma, Managing Director, Eaton Power Quality Corporation, feels, “The
UPS market has done phenomenally well in the last year. What is particularly
heartening is that this growth has not only been in the bottom layer but also
among enterprises.” Eaton has been a key player in the Enterprise UPS segment
in India. Sharma claims that his firm was the first to introduce UPS systems
based on DSP (Digital Signal Processor) technology in India. A DSP-powered UPS
provides increased power efficiency and density.
|
With India assuming a key role in Asia, businesses have become attuned
to the fact that they need robust infrastructure to attract and retain
investors. Upcoming businesses realise the importance of factoring network
uptime in as a key component in the overall business model. Apart from
understanding the critical load requirements, businesses are beginning
to pay special attention to the environment in which the application will
run and are thus increasing demand for power quality audits.
Today, vendors have power solutions specifically designed to meet the
needs of an Internet data centre with several enhanced features. Efficiency
and reliability most often depend on the type of unit, the load and the
environment. The higher a unit’s efficiency, the lower the operating
cost. The type of load being protected is an important consideration too.
Current UPS units should be capable of supplying non-linear type loads
without de-rating or degradation in total harmonic distortion (THD). This
would require the computation of critical electrical loads, before selecting
the UPS capacity, considering the power requirements of each piece of
equipment to be protected. An ideal UPS system should take care of the
output voltage and frequency regulation. Finally, a good UPS should also
allow for 25 to 30 percent future expansion. In addition, the service
capabilities of the UPS manufacturer also matter greatly in case of mission-critical
applications. Some of the recent innovative features that have been introduced
in the UPS over the past year are load bus synchronisation (multi-level
redundancy), remote monitoring software (Web-based monitoring) and DSP-based
UPS systems.
Nair of Emerson asserts, “We hold 80 percent of the Internet data
centre market in India.” As an Internet Data Centre runs mission-critical
applications, it cannot afford network downtime.
APC India is a new entrant in this segment and it has outlined an aggressive
roadmap to gain market share. Subodh Tagare says, “We have launched
three models, RS1500, RS1000 and ES500 in the ISX range to cater to this
market. The concept of Network Critical Physical Infrastructure (NCPI)
is crucial for data centres.” APC India is working with its partners
to help them deploy data centre management solutions in enterprises.
Vendors are also donning consultants’ hats. For instance, unlike
most vendors selling products, Emerson provides power solutions. Recently,
Emerson implemented a power solution for a global firm, designing and
executing various components of the data centre, including critical infrastructure
requirements such as power and air conditioning, fire systems, security
and data lines, data cabling solutions and network uptime. In the future,
analysts expect vendors selling UPS systems to start offering power solutions
as the margins are better.
Most major vendors believe that the data centre market will keep growing
at a steady rate. “I feel that data centre market is still at a niche
stage but there are lots of opportunities for each and every vendor,”
says Sharma.
|
 |
 |
|
Within the SMB segment, the awareness of business continuity solutions
is growing at a very fast pace and SMBs are fast realising the importance
of uptime solutions for their businesses
Sandeep Nair
Managing Director, Emerson Network Power (India)
|
With the opening up of the textile industry and the government focusing
on disinvestment, there is an opportunity for the UPS industry to grow
Deepak Sharma
Managing Director,
Eaton Power Quality Corporation
|
An SME push
As per IDC, there are about 1.7 million organisations that fall under the small
office segment (1 to 9 PCs). Unlike the enterprise segment that buys UPS systems
for server, network, data and hardware protection for multiple PCs, SMB customers
look for UPS systems that protect 1 to 5 individual PCs.
As Subodh Tagare, Marketing Manager, APC India, explains, “Most small and
medium businesses run on a daily revenue generation model. Every transaction
is important and valuable. Given the importance of uptime, most customers in
this segment look for longer backup time along with reliable hardware protection.”
Another vendor, Emerson, is looking to play in the SMB space
in a big way. Through its network of business partners and channel partners,
Emerson is trying to educate the SMB segment on the importance of UPS solutions.
Says Emerson’s Nair, “Within the SMB segment, the awareness of business
continuity solutions is growing rapidly and SMBs are fast realising the importance
of network uptime for their businesses.” Emerson’s new launches will
see innovative products like the Next Generation UPS specially designed to suit
Indian power conditions. Emerson is also looking to provide effective power
solutions for corporates which could include services such as precision air
conditioning solutions for the IT & ITES segment and solutions for the telecom
industry. The power solutions are designed to eliminate the possibility of power
interruptions. Already a leader in the enterprise segment, Emerson is looking
to consolidate its position by launching the Micro UPS product range targeted
at the SOHO segment.
| Today’s UPSs can be configured to send a battery-power
alert to all users who are logged on whenever there is a power failure.
When time runs out or battery level hits a particular pre-set low, the software
can perform an unattended shutdown of the server or workstation. Once mains
power is restored, the same UPS sends a power-on alert. |
| Digital Signal Processing (DSP) technology
ensures high reliability of the UPS system and enables faster response times
of less than 1 millisecond.
Hot sync parallel technology maximises performance
of individual UPS systems and allows capacity increase. Each module has
the ability to synchronise and support the critical load independently
of other modules. Thus all critical loads can be supported by UPS grade
power, whatever maintenance needs arise. This technology can accommodate
up to four UPS modules in parallel for most critical applications.
Advanced battery management features in UPS
systems increase a battery’s useful life by 50 percent, reduce battery
replacement cost and provide advance notice of the end of battery life.
These features also constantly monitor battery charge status and help
in reducing battery corrosion.
Load segmentation allows the UPS to differentiate
between critical and non-critical load. This ensures logical and orderly
shutdown of non-critical systems and helps to prevent data loss.
|
Entry-level power protection
When it comes to selling, the market for the two segments, low-end UPS and top-end
power solutions cannot be compared. The entry-level segment has many unorganised
players at the lower end and organised ones at the higher end. The high-end
UPS segment is a value-driven business. Today the driver for the high-end UPS
segment is the cost of downtime due to the non-availability of critical systems.
Manufacturers and service providers are looking to reduce operating costs and
raise productivity. In the early days, companies just concentrated on increasing
efficiencies but now the focus has shifted to reducing downtime.
As most Indian organisations, especially in the software
services and BPO sector, have to abide by strict SLAs (Service Level Agreements),
there is strong demand from this segment for UPS solutions. As these facilities
cannot be down even for maintenance purposes, it requires a completely different
structure of power solution, which encompasses the concepts of multi-level redundancies,
right from the grid to the load point (including distribution) and not just
for the UPS. Technology-savvy customers insist on solutions based on true online
technology for their critical applications in this space, as they would not
like their load to be exposed to even frequency fluctuations at any point of
time. Neutral isolation also becomes essential in such facilities to avoid any
noise or disturbances entering the network.
In the case of the low-end segment, the UPS is bought typically for single PC
applications. Most applications are not very critical and hence users can afford
to go in for offline or line interactive UPS. These UPS systems offer value
for money to the customer in this segment, and price is the deciding factor.
Other users in this segment, those whose work is critical, go in for online
UPSs.
An effective channel strategy plays an important role in the low-end UPS segment.
Vivek Jain, Director-Marketing, Microtek, discloses, “We have increased
our geographical presence last year and this has really helped us to gain more
market share primarily in low-end UPS systems. We have appointed more than 200
channel partners to sell Microtek UPS, and this is a big advantage for us.”
However, some players do not believe that the low-end UPS segment is an opportunity
as the market is fragmented.
Says Sharma of Eaton, “The low-end is not the space we want to concentrate
on as we feel that the market is very scattered and most players are selling
primarily on price rather than quality.” Sharma says that his organisation
would compete on quality rather than price.
- As per MAIT, the UPS market size touched Rs 1,400 crore in 2003-2004.
Of this market, the sub-5 KVA segment, comprising home, SOHO and SMB
users, constitutes Rs 745 crore. The enterprise segment accounts for
the remaining Rs 650 crore.
- In India, the five cities of Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata
and Bangalore have been the largest markets for PCs and UPSs. However,
over the past few months, there has been a shift towards B and C Class
cities such as Pune, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Hyderabad and Jaipur. This
is primarily due to the poor quality of power, and the upward spiral
in terms of PC penetration in these cities.
- In JAS 2004, the share of traditional Line Interactive Systems increased
over JAS 2003, with absolute volumes going up by almost 19 percent.
The shipments of online UPS systems fell 12 percent year-on-year in
the same quarter. Capacity-wise, the maximum growth in this quarter
was seen in the sub-600 KVA category; here unit shipments posted a 20
percent growth y-o-y.
- Analysts expect UPS vendors to start offering power solutions as
the latter offer fatter margins.
|
| Offline UPS The most popular variety of UPS,
this is a cost-effective choice for small, non-critical standalone applications,
typically isolated PCs and peripherals. This type of UPS powers the load
from the mains (when available), but switches to the inverter (supplied
by the battery) when the power fails.
Online UPS Most online UPS systems supply five
to 10 minutes of battery backup, which is sufficient for 98 percent of
blackouts, as studies show that these situations typically last no longer
than two minutes. For blackouts of a longer duration, online UPS systems
are available with extended battery capabilities.
Line Interactive For effective power conditioning
plus UPS backup, Line Interactive UPS are preferred. These are useful
in areas where power outages are rare but power fluctuations are quite
frequent.
|
Expected in 2005
Most vendors believe that the UPS market is going to grow by at least 25 percent
in volume terms and by 10 to 15 percent in value terms. “Part of the decrease
in value is because of the zero duty customs regime for IT products. With the
opening
of textile industry and disinvestment, more opportunities are available for
the UPS industry to grow. The alternative applications for UPS and the need
for power backup and quality in mission-critical operations are also going to
be growth drivers,” says Sharma. Emerson’s Nair says that as the networked
economy grows in India, the dependence on reliable uptime solutions will grow
correspondingly. Increasingly, SME segments are also becoming IT-savvy and network-dependent.
These trends are resulting in a higher dependence on UPS and power protection
solutions.
atanu@expresscomputeronline.com
|
