Mature as they may be, uninterruptible power supplies (UPSes) nevertheless appear headed for significant challenges in the short term. While no major vendor acknowledges the ongoing crisis in California as a rallying call for UPS implementation or development, they do cite the ingredients for coping successfully with a pervasive energy predicament. Those include applying more efficient topologies to link UPSes to backup generators and new generator families; the need for platform-independent software for the Internet to monitor power status and control UPS networks efficiently; and, surprisingly, the continuing need to educate the public on the virtues of circuit and backup protection.

Already, there's quietly contentious debate over whether the various flavors of online vs. line-interactive UPSes are best-suited for efficiently hooking up to external backup generators. The linkup issue is certain to become more complicated with the arrival of new generator types and battery backup sources, such as flywheels and fuel cells.

The battery shortage experienced during the past year has been alleviated by recent order cancellations in the telecom and data-center markets. When it comes to Internet-related applications, the major UPS players are looking to eliminate incompatible operating software, addressing cross-platform issues. Most are calling for the adoption of universal XML, browser-based tags over the next year, in yet another expression of the acknowledged merits of standardization.

Finally, there's been call for a new round of industry-wide seminars to discuss the magnitude of the issues confronting them and to brainstorm solutions. Here, vendors have the benefit of working from the long historical perspective of how systems are placed in jeopardy when adequate prep work isn't done. And the broad view is still that most people still don't appreciate the power problem's significance.

When it comes to crises, most people are simply content to provide a confusing account of what's happening. The California energy crisis is a prime example.

I'm the kind of pessimist who sees the glass as 99 percent full but draining exponentially. Keeping protected, in this case, really means keeping five steps ahead through education.