Johannesburg, 22 Oct 2024
From a provider of specific UPS systems 25 years ago to an award-winning pan-African power and data centre provider, Master Power Technologies (MPT) is now looking forward to its next 25 years of evolution.
Marking the company’s 25th anniversary, Menno Parsons, founder and Director of MPT, says the company was launched as Master Guard Power Systems in 1999, selling crucial power UPS systems with a focus on customer service excellence. “I love technology and electronics, but I’m also passionate about delivering customer service,” he says. "Among many factors that drive business success, I believe it’s important that you are enthusiastic about what you do, become the best at it and deliver great service.”
This approach bore fruit, and the company soon expanded beyond UPSes into other sectors like complete energy solutions, including distribution systems, control systems, generators, battery solutions, monitoring and management systems utilising a new research and development (R&D) division.
“A UPS in itself has just become a box. We couldn't scale and be competitive against multinationals in Africa by just selling UPSes, so we became trusted advisors in our business by delivering leading-edge secure solutions. Over time, we changed our name to Master Power Technologies. We started building energy centres for companies, and then evolved into complete data centres,” he says. “We now have specialists in each field in the data centre business, and we are one of the biggest data centre builders of high-end data centres in Africa.”
MPT now has more than 10 Uptime Accredited Tier Design Engineers and two Accredited Operations Specialists across various disciplines to ensure that data centres are designed for optimal performance. The company has completed more than 150 world-class data centre projects in more than 20 countries, including South Africa, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Djibouti, Madagascar, Somalia, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Senegal, Ghana, Congo, DRC, Angola, Namibia and others.
For Parsons, some of the biggest milestones over the past 25 years include the company’s name change and its efforts and investment in R&D. “Changing our name represented our evolution from a brand-specific business to creating a business that holistically services and fulfils our customers' needs – this became the start of a significant expansion. Another highlight was the substantial enhancement of our R&D department developing improved local products and solutions – in Africa, for Africa. I’m proud that we are able to access Africa the way we do – from within Africa. We’re not exporting money out of the continent, and we’re developing solutions that are appropriate for Africa,” he says. MPT’s practical, tailored solutions are designed to lower operational costs, extend equipment lifespan, improve site reliability and optimise performance in African conditions.
Parsons believes African data centres are leapfrogging many of the legacy stages their counterparts in Europe and North America went through. They are now becoming ready for the demands of AI and new DC requirements. MPT is supporting the industry, balancing world-class requirements and applying them to the African context.
Data centres for Africa
“There are certain unique challenges in Africa,” he says. “For example, power stability is a problem in many countries. Africa is vast, so data centres may be far away from immediate tech, spares and support, and you may need to take spares through borders and customs. We understand local challenges and have felt the pain, and we take these challenges and learnings into account when we design our projects. To support our customers, we aim to set up environments for the equipment to be supported locally.”
Parsons says: “Because every country has its own culture and challenges, we prefer to put down a footprint in each country and make it local by partnering with people in the country.”
Planning for the next 25
Parsons aims to grow MPT’s footprint into more countries in future: “I’d like to see Africa putting brands into the world, instead of the other way around. We are looking at taking our own brand into Europe and the Middle East,” he says. “We also want to step up our efforts to make a contribution and have a positive impact in all areas of our work.”
MPT’s positive impacts extend beyond building data centres that drive digital progress for Africa – the company also strives to invest in development of its staff and partners, and create value for the communities in which it works.
“The business’s success has enabled us to give back to the community – something that is central to our company’s ethos,” says Parsons.
MPT supports numerous orphanages, rural schools and programmes for underprivileged children, making a lasting impact on young lives. The company also sponsors local sports teams, Paralympic athletes, and it is currently launching the PowerBee initiative to protect bees for the concept of sustainability, to promote biodiversity and support local ecosystems.
Parsons – a qualified pilot – has also participated in several "Reach for a Dream" campaigns and takes part in annual flights for the elderly and children. He recently assisted when lions and endangered pangolins needed to be relocated and re-homed via air transport.
Under Parsons’ leadership, he ensures that as the company grows, it delivers growth in its people as well as significant contributions to the communities it serves.
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