Oh yeah, if we had that where we worked people would definitely be in danger. Most likely all of our systems would be down if we didn't have the UPS+Generator setup. It often takes 5-30 seconds for the generator to kick in and be running at full capacity. Normally 5 seconds, but sometimes there is a bit of a delay.
The other part of the equation is that they're recommending that everybody switch to laptops, which are capable of running for a long time without power. My job involves a lot of long compiles, so I want to stick with a desktop PC to get the maximum compile speed.
Considering how old the software we used was it definitely could run well on a laptop. However it does mean you have to manage the battery life on a lot of different laptops versus one central area.
Don't get me wrong, the company pushes laptops for reasons other than eliminating UPSs. Even a nearly dead laptop battery should tide you over for the minute it takes for the building generator to get online. I don't think managing laptop batteries is a big concern for our IT department.
