UPS Service Level Agreements (SLAs)
maximized performance and complete peace of mind
1. Ensuring reliable and cost-effective UPS performance
Power outages can have a significant impact on a business. According to a recent survey, the cost of one hour of downtime now exceeds $100,000/€84,000 and can reach $1 million/€840,000 or more for large enterprises1. The potential effect of a power outage on critical infrastructure such as healthcare, energy production, and defence, can reach far beyond just financial losses.
An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) is therefore vital to ensuring business continuity in the event of an outage. Switching from mains supply to batteries, a UPS backup will allow business to continue as normal until full power is restored.
But as with all of a company’s electronic and electrical equipment, its UPS will require regular maintenance to ensure optimal performance and continued reliability. Malfunctions may occur, so it’s imperative that they’re dealt with quickly and efficiently in order to minimise the risk of outages and the costs arising from associated downtime.
It’s typically the responsibility of maintenance and procurement managers to find a means of
providing continuous business-critical power and avoiding interruption to services that will deliver the greatest possible value to the company. However, when faced with constantly changing operational constraints, and a need to minimise OPEX investment, ensuring the ongoing reliability and cost-effectiveness of their company’s UPS system can be fraught with challenges.
Many of these challenges can be overcome with an OEM-backed service level agreement (SLA) in place. It allows any issues that may arise to be rectified without delay with the support of the manufacturer or by approved service providers. Including telephone support, preventive maintenance, and emergency repairs when needed, an SLA can offer peace-of-mind as well as the desired reliability and cost-effectiveness. 2. Complete coverage for
In addition to its range of UPS systems and batteries, Eaton offers a series of SLAs to ensure the continuous provision of mission-critical power.
Technical
Helpdesk
Expert
These SLAs are available in a range of different levels to suit your maintenance needs and budget:
• Basic - professional routine maintenance for your UPS
• Standard - essential services to minimize failure rate and its impact
• Advanced - your choice to optimize maintenance investment
• Premium - integral solution to maximize your power security
• Flex - the option to select an SLA for use as and when you need it
• Standard + and Advanced + include all the features from the Standard and Advanced packages, but with the addition of Cyber Secured Monitoring, also included with the Premium package.
The options available allow operations and maintenance managers to safeguard the performance and reliability of their organisation’s UPS, and help procurement managers remain within their budgets, and deliver value to the business.
To meet these needs, Eaton’s UPS SLAs fall into the following four categories:
• UPS Maintenance – actions performed as part of a company’s UPS maintenance plan, according to requirements for the system’s optimal operation. It comprises:
• Preventive maintenance and inspections
• System diagnosis
• Cybersecurity firmware update
• System efficiency optimisation
• Technical Support – a set of solutions that enable companies to access Eaton’s technical expertise and grow their own competence level. It comprises:
• Eaton Care helpdesk 8/5
• Expert hotline 24/7
• UPS operation training
• Emergency Response – a set of solutions in response to malfunctions. It comprises:
• Guaranteed response time
• Root cause analysis
• Tailored contingency planning
• Cyber Secured Monitoring (Premium, Standard + and Advanced + only)
• UPS performance dashboard
• UPS system health report (anomalies detection)
• Maintenance records portal
3.1 UPS Maintenance
Preventive maintenance and inspections
Maintaining the condition of your UPS ensures its continuous reliability and performance and, by reducing their frequency, decreases the cost of interruptions to your power supply.
Using original and new spare parts and Eaton service software, certified engineers perform inspections to identify early signs of degradation and carry out recurrent maintenance tasks designed to avoid deterioration of your UPS. A field service report is submitted after every engineer visit, which include recommendations for ongoing maintenance and investment.
System diagnosis
Diagnostic analysis of the elements that make up your UPS ecosystem, such as its environment and power distribution system, can identify hidden patterns which could potentially lead to malfunctions and reduce UPS downtime. Identifying specific failure modes in this way allows you to implement more cost-effective corrective measures.
Eaton’s diagnostic analytics are based on UPS manufacturers’ designs, and UPS history log reading and have access to a database of failure models based on the collective experiences of our customers around the globe.
Cybersecurity firmware update
Updating your UPS system’s firmware guarantees the latest functionality, performance, and cybersecurity, patching it against the latest threats.
With a dedicated cybersecurity team constantly scanning the market for new and emerging threats, only Eaton can safely update a specific application’s firmware to ensure it is always protected.
System efficiency optimisation
Updating your UPS system’s parametrisation improves its efficiency and extends its battery lifetime, minimising the risk of power losses.
Drawing upon Eaton’s UPS design and manufacturing expertise, and using a dedicated service software tool, an approved engineer will analyse the performance of your current UPS system, before proposing and implementing a parameterisation update on-site.
3.2 Technical support
There are five levels of technical support:
Level 0
Basic Support
Level 1 UPS Expert support
Level 2
Information that can be found in public technical and commercial product documentation such as user manuals or datasheets Local support
Solutions that require UPS expert knowledge Local support
Specialized Expert Support Local or central support team depending on location
Level 3
Design and production expert team
Level 4
Product R&D and Corporate team
Located in European manufacturing sites: Finland (Espoo) and France (Montbonnot)
Located in European manufacturing sites: Finland (Espoo) and France (Montbonnot), and Global Corporate resources.
Eaton Care – helpdesk 8/5
Phone, email, and chat options are available to contact Eaton technical support to solve Level 1 queries during working hours. In addition, Eaton Care offers access to product documentation including manuals, datasheets, and test certificates, and to pricing and lead times for parts. Response time to queries is not guaranteed.
Expert hotline 24/7
This option provides round-the-clock tech support for Level 1 and 2 queries, with a guaranteed response time. Priority access is also available to Level 3 and 4 queries within the EMEA region.
UPS operation training
Eaton offers on-site basic training in understanding the UPS operation process. Performed systematically after preventive maintenance works, this training enables to you to perform basic operations, understand basic malfunction indicators, and improve the efficiency of communications with our tech support teams.
3.3 Emergency response
Guaranteed response time
24/7
It goes without saying that the sooner an issue can be investigated, the sooner it can be remedied. Fast access to expert support and troubleshooting should avoid repetition of a problem occurring.
With geographical coverage across the whole country, certified Eaton field service engineers are contractually committed to be present on-site within the shortest period of time following a request for emergency support – 24/7.
Root cause analysis
Investigating the potential reasons for a malfunction within your UPS system will help determine the root cause and avoid a similar failure occurring again in the future.
Drawing on its global expertise and a root cause analysis methodology derived from the operation experience of over 100,000 on-site units installed under SLAs, Eaton’s team of experts will carry out a deep analysis of any elements at fault and make clear recommendations in its root cause report to avoid repetition of failures.
Tailored contingency planning
Malfunctions are rare, but it’s always useful to have a plan in place in the event that one might occur.
A dedicated field service engineer will work with you on a site-specific plan to ensure they’re ready to react to a UPS malfunction in accordance with your own procedures and regulations. Familiar with your site and electrical infrastructure, and drawing on Eaton’s knowledge of UPS and electrical distribution systems, they will work with you to agree a bespoke recovery plan based on failure mode and effects analysis.
Cyber Secured Monitoring (Included in Premium, Standard + and Advanced +)
Eaton’s certified Cyber Secured Monitoring solution enables analysis of your UPS system for real-time diagnostics and prognosis. A performance dashboard allows remote inspection of the UPS and access to the alarms log, enabling tech support teams to perform deep analysis of any suspicious patterns. In addition, a periodically delivered system health report offers a performance prediction analysis and recommendations on managing your system’s lifecycle.
Access to real-time data enables a dedicated team to minimise the time needed to assess and correct any malfunction, avoid unnecessary site visits, and improve first-time fix rates.
4. More information and how to contact Eaton
Disruption to an organisation’s power supply is considered one of the biggest risks a business can face today. A reliable UPS is essential to ensuring continuity in the event of an outage, and minimising the impact it could have on productivity, profitability, and security.
Eaton’s range of SLAs afford you peace of mind, knowing that your UPS maintenance schedule is within budget and that, in the event of a fault, you have access to the tools and support you need to ensure your business continues as usual.
For more information on any of these SLAs or to contact an Eaton service centre, please visit www.eaton.com
Eaton is dedicated to ensuring that reliable, efficient and safe power is available when it’s needed most. With unparalleled knowledge of electrical power management across industries, experts at Eaton deliver customised, integrated solutions to solve our customers’ most critical challenges.
Our focus is on delivering the right solution for the application. But decision makers demand more than just innovative products. They turn to Eaton for an unwavering commitment to personal support that makes customer success a top priority.
Eaton’s mission is to improve the quality of life and the environment through the use of power management technologies and services. We provide sustainable solutions that help our customers effectively manage electrical, hydraulic, and mechanical power – more safely, more efficiently, and more reliably. Eaton’s 2020 revenues were $17.9 billion, and we sell products to customers in more than 175 countries. We have approximately 92,000 employees. For more information, visit Eaton.com.