Location: Denver, CO

Segment: IT

Problem: With plans under way for a rapid franchise expansion, the company needed to standardize on a robust, easy-to-install UPS offering remote management capabilities.

Solution: Eaton 5PX, Intelligent Power Software

Results: The Eaton 5PX proved to be the perfect business plan for Office Evolution, delivering high availability and all the benefits the company was seeking.

Background

Imagine a collaborative work environment without the baggage of a big corporation. That’s the concept behind the virtual office facilitated by Office Evolution. The company provides businesses with solutions that include flexible furnished space, meeting rooms and phone answering. Customers can contract to receive a variety of valuable services such as unlimited drop-in access to business lounges at all locations; conference, meeting room or day office rental time; a front office presence; answer, screen, announce and transfer of phone calls; a business address for stationery and mail delivery; and Wi-Fi Internet and digital fax. Founded in 2003, Office Evolution approaches the small business and virtual office market from a unique, entrepreneurial perspective. The firm’s determination to offer sole proprietors and small businesses the freedom and flexibility to work how they choose has evolved into a rapidly expanding franchise with nine business centers located throughout the Denver area; recently opened offices in New Jersey and California; and the aggressive goal of launching one new location per week in 2015.

Challenge

With the company’s brisk expansion came the need for a solid, communication-savvy power protection solution. Because Office Evolution supports locations across the map, the firm sought to standardize on a single uninterruptible power system (UPS) capable of safeguarding the critical equipment within each franchise location. The ability to communicate remotely with the units, as well as the option to safely shut down devices in the event of a prolonged power outage, were key UPS requirements for Office Evolution. Furthermore, the organization desired a unit that could offer extended battery runtime. “And of course, we wanted something robust, dependable and reliable,” emphasizes Scott Oleson, the company’s IT director. “As we were looking at UPSs, we realized that we would make it a requirement for our franchisees to use one.” With plans to open up to eight more offices by year’s end — not to mention in excess of 300 over the next three to five years— Office Evolution required a highly reliable backup system to protect a range of networking equipment at each location, including the firewalls, switches and phones. “Our clients need those services operational at all times,” Oleson explains. “It’s their business.” 

Solution

The Eaton 5PX UPS successfully answered the call for Office Evolution. With the first of nine units deployed in May, the company couldn’t be happier with the outcome. “I’ve been very impressed, all the way around,” Oleson says. “We’ve standardized on it.” In addition to delivering enterprise-class battery backup with the option of adding up to four extended battery modules (EBMs), the 5PX provides industry-leading efficiency of up to 99 percent. Another key benefit of the UPS is the fact that it protects more devices by providing 28 percent more wattage than traditional UPSs. Furthermore, the 5PX is available in a convenient bundle that includes a network card and management software, simplifying deployment for organizations like Office Evolution. “The ability to remotely monitor the UPSs was very important,” Oleson says. “There are many locations where I won’t ever be there on site. The biggest thing for me is being able to log in remotely and see what’s going on with the device.”

Indeed, with Eaton’s Intelligent Power Software Suite, Oleson has all of the tools to monitor and manage power devices across the network right at his fingertips. By combining the most critical applications to ensure system uptime and data integrity, the solution not only offers power monitoring and management, but also graceful shutdown during an extended power outage and extensive notification capabilities. To further enhance reliability, the 5PX relies on Eaton’s exclusive ABM® battery charging technology, which uses sophisticated sensing circuitry and an innovative three-stage charging technique to extend the useful service life of the batteries while optimizing recharge time. ABM technology also provides up to 60 days’ notice of the end of useful battery service life, allowing ample time to hotswap batteries without ever having to shut down connected equipment. For Oleson, this benefit is particularly advantageous. “ABM is especially important to us because our franchisees tend to plug the unit in, stick it in a closet, and forget about it,” he says. “The fact that we will be notified is there is a battery problem is great.” The IT director also values the extended runtime options afforded by the 5PX. Although the initial nine units purchased by Office Evolution are using just the internal battery, “it will be up to each franchisee if they want to add time to that,” Oleson explains.

Yet another advantage to having standardized on the 5PX is Eaton’s ability to think outside the box . . . or about the box, as the case may be. “The outside of the box has four handles on it, which makes it so much easier to carry,” Oleson shares. “The competition just doesn’t think about those things.” Furthermore, Oleson is impressed with how easy the units are to configure and deploy. “We opened up a box and found that not only has it been packaged and prepared well, but there’s even a screwdriver there,” Oleson shares. “It’s just so nice to not have to go looking for anything. Everything has been thought out very well.” This added benefit has proven to be very important as Office Evolution establishes its franchise locations. “Many times, these are not technicaltype people, so the ability to configure the unit and get it running on their own is highly important,” Oleson says. “The ability for them to set things up themselves, and for us to provide them with ‘IT in a box,’ is our overall goal.” The IT director delivers further praise for Eaton’s documentation. “It’s excellent,” he enthuses. “It has been really easy to get the units set up and for us to get taken care of, which wasn’t my experience with APC.”

Indeed, as a former APC user, Oleson had experienced his fair share of headaches with the units. While discussing UPS options with his Softsmart representative, he was encouraged to try Eaton. “For the quality and the value of the device, it was unmatched,” Oleson says of the 5PX, adding that a comparable unit from APC would have cost $800 more. “We’re trying to keep costs down for our franchisees, and $800 is a fair chunk of the cost to bring a new location online.” Supplementing protection even further for Office Evolution is the 5PX’s 3-year warranty, which covers both the UPS and the batteries. “Of course, the more the unit offers, the better it is for our franchisees,” Oleson acknowledges. “Working with Eaton is just so much easier than APC.”

Results

With the Eaton 5PX safeguarding equipment at all of its facilities, Office Evolution can focus on growing its business, without having to worry about downtime. With the units in place, the company is now able to:

• Provide continuous uptime at all of its sites
• Maintain the highest level of reliability with benefits such as ABM technology
• Ensure installation is a breeze with the 5PX’s simple configuration and thorough documentation
• Remotely monitor and manage all networks with power management software
• Extend runtime with the addition of EBMs 
• Rest easy with a three-year warranty covering the unit and batteries