Findings of the SD USERS’ SATISFACTION SURVEY 2008 suggest that today's customers can be divided into two categories. The higher rating customer is extremely quality conscious still he wants good value for money and thinks UPS to be an integral part of the computing system while at the lower end it the price that matters. The survey shows that power protection equipment customers in India primarily evaluate product reliability, maintenance and service capabilities while selecting power protection equipment and hence companies with presence (having a service center) nearer the installation are preferred, this is more true in case of large installations.

In the SME segment, suppliers need to actively anticipate the customer needs and offer pioneering solutions with assured services. Manufacturers that leverage this opportunity to distinguish themselves from other peers are likely to gain a strong competitive advantage. Today most corporate are willing to pay a premium for a truly reliable product rather than take the risk of suffering outrages by compromising on quality.

Softdisk believes, Power continuity & Quality still are the key mantra for success of a Power Electronic Equipment albeit it is the Energy saving capability of the equipment which will turn the tide in its favor.

Energy saving is going to be huge factor in determining the success of UPS equipment. "Manufacturers will need to be more creative and proactive in identifying and grasping presently unexploited opportunities in the field of energy saving. With all suppliers already providing high value to their clients and competition being intense, energy saving differentiation - although very difficult to achieve - will be key to accessing new markets.

With increasing value of space, there is an increased focus amongst the new age customers to incorporate higher wattage per cubic inch and demand high power factor for higher efficiency. This is where the Indian manufacturers have lost the plot to the Chinese & Taiwanese companies. With rack mounted version even the high end UPSs are coming with small foot print. However Softdisk believes that the increasing cost of batteries will bring in new equations in to play, especially at the higher end. Here the innovative technologies like flywheel and solar photo-voltaic may create a paradigm shift the way UPSs are looked into.

New vendors who want to position themselves in the Indian Power Conditioners and transient voltage surge suppressors markets are taking the easy way out of R&D and now even the established once need to enhance their capabilities by going the Chinese way. However it is seen that reputation and previous experience strongly influence customers' equipment purchasing decisions. This years survey clearly indicates that trading their way out to win market is no longer yielding success.

Softdisk has always been trying its level best to educate the end-users. We have always maintained that it is for the manufacturers who have to identify the users’ need and provide with cost effective, long term solutions to address them.

No wonders, our readers (the end-users) have positioned us as Power Quality Consultants. Our mission is to forge partnerships between Power Protection Equipment manufacturers and end users.

This year the survey findings were analyzed more analytically by firstly bifurcating Online & Offline/Inline UPS manufacturers separately. Online UPS manufacturer were further classified in to Dynamic & Static categories. Static UPSs were further bifurcated into Three Phase and Single Phase products in to various kVA categories, measured separately on Quality, After Sales Service, Pre Sales End User Education, Technology advantage vis-à-vis Cost effectiveness which Softdisk considers a must. The manufacturer must be able to identify the need of the end user and feed them with requisite information that will enable them to decide from the plethora of products available in the market, to actually have a quality product at a good enough price.

The Offline/Inline UPS systems were not categorized at this level. This limits by not allowing us to compare APC with say Emerson or DB. However it is still the online parallel redundant dual conversion technology which rules the roost when it comes to high-end mission critical applications while dynamic UPSs with flywheel technology has started gaining acceptance.

As usual an effort by SOFTDISK to educate the masses.

Best in Product Quality PILLER 55, PCI HITEC, HI-REL Best in After Sales Service PILLER 55, PCI Best in Pre Sales End User Education PILLER 55, PCI Best in Technology Advantage vis-a-vis Cost Effectiveness HITEC, HI-REL

As the above chart indicates PILLER 55 from PCI Limited, New Dehi emerged as a clear winner, being rated the SD’s No. 1 Dynamic UPS in above 500 kVA ratings. They were adjudged best Product Quality, After Sales Service and Pre Sales End User Education with 94 percentage points and A++ Ratings.

Closely following them were HITEC brand of Rotary UPS Systems marketed by Gandhi Nagar based Hi-Rel Electronics with 93 percentage points and A++ ratings. They were adjudged best in product quality and had the distinction of being adjudged having the better ratio of Technology Advantage vis-a-vis Cost Effectiveness in the satisfaction ratings survey for the year 2008.

The customers didn’t vote for Socomec’s DELPHYS VSS+ DC which also has a product in this category. May be not having positioned & marketed their product properly is the reason for their dismal display.

Best in Product Quality SYNERGY 3300, DB DIGITAL HPE 33, NUMERIC AROS 3000, PCI Best in After Sales Service NUMERIC EMERSON PCI Best in Pre Sales End User Education EMERSON APC Best in Technology Advantage vis-a-vis Cost Effectiveness DB POWER DELTA

As the above chart indicates DB Power, Numeric and PCI emerged with top honors securing 94% satisfaction ratings. DB Numeric & PCI were adjudged best in product quality. Emerson which was adjudged best in After Sales Service along with PCI & NUMERIC came a close second with 93% satisfaction rating.

Delta which also earned A++ satisfaction rating with 93 percentage point were adjudged Best in Technology Advantage vis-a-vis Cost Effectiveness, DB too scored on this front.

Aplab & APC were just 1 percentage point behind, clinching the 3rd spot in the above 100 kVA ratings in the
3 Phase category. However APC MGE were adjudged best in Pre Sales End User Education along with Emerson. Close on the heels was the Kolkatta based Hita Technologies which narrowly missed the 3rd spot by 0.5% points, having to satisfy itself with the 4th spot.

Powerone, Bangalore with over 20, 100 kVA plus installations clinched the 5th spot in the above 100 kVA ratings in this category.

Best in Product Quality HARMONY 3300, DB NT SERIES, DELTA POWERWARE 9355, EATON LIEBERT NX, EMERSON DIGITAL HPE 33, NUMERIC Best in After Sales Service Emerson Numeric Best in Pre Sales End User Education Emerson Eaton Best in Technology Advantage vis-a-vis Cost Effectiveness Numeric DB Power HITA

As the above chart indicates DB Power, Emerson, Eaton and Numeric emerged with top honors securing 93% satisfaction ratings. There product Harmony 3300, DIGITAL HPE 33, POWERWARE 9355 & Liebert NX were adjudged best in product quality while Emerson & Numeric were adjudged best in After Sales Service.

Delta Energy Systems NT Series came a close second with 92.5 satisfaction ratings. Its NT series was adjudged best in Product quality.

Close on the heels were the Everest Series from APLAB and ALP Series from HITA Technologies having a satisfaction rating of 92% and Product quality came a close second with 93% satisfaction rating.

Powerone’s Megapower II with a satisfaction rating of 91.5 was adjudged the fourth best, While Uniline grabbed the 5th spot with a satisfaction rating of 91%.

Eaton & Emerson were adjudged the best in terms of End-User education.

Best in Product Quality HPE Series NUMERIC TECH UPS, TECHSER AHA SERIES, HITA POWERCOM VGD 6000 (Asia Powercom) Best in After Sales Service NUMERIC EMERSON UNILINE Best in Pre Sales End User Education APC Best in Technology Advantage vis-a-vis Cost Effectiveness NUMERIC POWERONE UNILINE

As the above chart indicates Numeric, DB Power, Delta and Emerson emerged with top honors securing 94% satisfaction ratings. HPE Series from Numeric, TECH UPS from TECHSER, AHA SERIES from HITA, APC SURT from APC were adjudged best in terms of Power Quality. Uniline Energy Systems, Powerone Micro systems and Techser Power Solutions with 93% satisfaction rating clinched the second spot in the Users’ Satisfaction Survey, 2008.

Numeric, Uniline along with Emerson were adjudged best in After Sales Service.

APC which has best record in Pre Sales End User Education & along with Asia Powercom and Aplab clinched the 3rd spot in this category with 92% satisfaction level. Close on the heels was Kolkatta based Hita Technologies & Electronic Enterprises, ELENT, a Delhi based company which started making its presence felt in the UPS Market which managed to clinch 91.5% satisfaction ratings clinching the fourth spot.

Tiny Tritron from Tritronics India with 91 % satisfaction level clinched the 5th spot in this category.

Best in Product Quality HP Series NUMERIC TECH UPS, TECHSER AHA SERIES, HITA SMART UPS RT, APC Best in After Sales Service NUMERIC ELENT UNILINE Best in End User Education APC Best in Technology Advantage vis-a-vis Cost Effectiveness NUMERIC POWERONE UNILINE

As the above chart indicates APC, Emerson, Numeric and Uniline emerged with top honors securing 94% satis-faction ratings. HP Series from Numeric, TECH UPS from TECHSER, AHA SERIES from HITA and SMART UPS RT from APC were adjudged best in terms of Poduct Quality.

Powerone Micro Systems, Techser Power and Hita Technologies with 93% satisfaction rating clinched the second spot in the Users’ Satisfaction Survey, 2008.

Numeric, Uniline along with Elent was adjudged best in providing After Sales Service.

Aplab and ASIA Powercom clinched the 3rd spot in this category with 92% satisfaction level. Close on the heels were Tiny Tritron from Tritronics India which managed to clinch 91.5% satisfaction ratings clinching the fourth spot. Elent with 91 % satisfaction level clinched the 5th spot in this category.

Best in Product Quality HP Series NUMERIC APC BE500Y-IN 500 VA SPECIAL, WeP Best in After Sales Service NUMERIC UNILINE NEXUS Best in Technology Advantage vis-a-vis Cost Effectiveness ASIA POWERCOM

As the above chart indicates HP Series from Numeric, APC’s Back UPS BE500Y-IN AND 500 VA SPECIAL from WeP Peripherals clinched the top slot in the Over all rating with 94% satisfaction level, these product were also adjudged having the Best product quality.

Next in line was ASIA POWERCOM clinching the 2nd spot with 93% satisfaction level. They had along with Numeric had the distinction of having been judged Best in Technology Advantage vis-vis Cost-Effectiveness. However it was Numeric, Uniline and Nexus which emerged as the best in terms of After Sales Service.

Uniline bagged overall 3rd lot by clinching 92.5% satisfaction level.

Elent made mark in UPS this time with its PRO Series clinching 92% satisfaction level to clinch the 4th spot. 2 Percentage points more then what it had achieved last year. A clear incation of improvement.

Nexus Power Systems having one of best service network clinched the fifth spot with 91% satifaction level for their NX series.

Points related to End User Education were not considered for charting but were used for over all satisfaction rating calculation.