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Cable management solutions are winning over big enterprise
users, but are they viable for the mainstream market yet?
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The market for software-based cable management systems is
shifting slightly as the solutions carve out a niche among large
enterprise end users. |
The first generation of the solutions proved too expensive for
the mainstream market. Now, the solutions, entering what is roughly
their fourth year in the U.S. market, have evolved to the point
where they will work with a new build installation as well as
retrofits, work with copper and optical fiber, and usually with any
cable management system—not just a proprietary one. |
These intelligent infrastructure management systems, however, are
still often viewed as too pricey, and are thought to be
cost-effective only for large enterprise end users. Contractors
interviewed by Cabling Installation & Maintenance say
their customers are often turned off by intelligent patching systems
because they fear the solutions will force them to hire additional
IT personnel. |
Manufacturers of intelligent patching solutions have been busy
working to counter that opinion. Roughly four years ago, RiT Inc.
(www.rittech.com), iTRACS (www.itracs.com) and Avaya Inc.
(www.avaya.com) offered solutions. Now, the playing field includes
Tyco (www.tyco.com), NORDX/CDT (www.nordx.com), The Siemon Company
(www.siemon.com) and ITT (www.ittnss.com), and Panduit
(www.panduit.com). |
Software provider iTRACS has now partnered with Molex Premise
Networks, (www.molexpn.com), ITT (www.ittnss.com), Ortronics
(www.ortronics.com), Tyco, and The Siemon Company (www.siemon.com).
The iTRACS solution is an intelligent cable management tool designed
to automatically update databases. |
RiT PatchView partners now include Panduit, which offers the
PanView solution; NORDX/CDT, which markets the IntelliMAC Plus
solution; the United Kingdom-based Brand Rex (www.brand-rex.com)
SMART Patch; and now KRONE (www.kroneamericas.com). SYSTIMAX, now
owned by CommScope (www.commscope.com), offers the iPATCH solution.
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"Between now and four years ago, it's like night and day," says
Rob MacIntosh, real time manager for Molex Inc.'s Premise Networks
Division (Hudson, NH). |
SYSTIMAX Solutions' iPATCH
system adds real-time monitoring of copper and fiber channels, and
integrates network management software over an SNMP platform.
Solutions in the iTRACS consortium can be used in retrofit or new
build situations. The RiT software, however, is best suited for
greenfield installations but can also be used in retrofits. Most of
the manufacturers, like ITT Industries, are eager to partner with
contractors and offer formal installation training programs that
instruct contractors on how to install the databases and software.
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Intelligent patching solutions are designed to provide
intelligence in real time and prevent unscheduled work outages. They
recognize and, often using a floor plan, point out the location of
unauthorized devices that log on to the network. If someone were,
for example, to bring unauthorized wireless laptops to a company, an
intelligent infrastructure management solution could detect where
they are used.
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"The system can pay for itself by reducing the risk of an
unscheduled outage due to a disconnect, or by avoiding it
altogether, or recovering from it more quickly due to instantly
knowing the root cause of such an outage," says Rick McNees, vice
president of marketing and business development for iTRACS Corp.
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That many of the solutions are now designed for both retrofit and
new build installations represents a change. Three years ago, when
they first began to appear in the U.S. market, intelligent patching
solutions were designed mostly for retrofits as manufacturers were
trying to find a place in an economy that did not favor new
construction. Now, the pendulum is swinging toward new builds, and
manufacturers say this is where the solutions have been finding a
fit recently. |
iTRACS reports that it takes about six months to sell an
intelligent patching solution to an end user and six months to
deploy it. That means that today's adopters in this market are still
rightly termed "early adopters." Customer awareness and, in some
cases, dropping prices are leading to a growing interest in the
solutions, which are starting to sell as manufacturers streamline
them to meet end users' security and compliance needs. |
The price of iTRACS-enabling equipment, for example, has come
down as manufacturers bring out their iTRACS-enabled or iTRACS-ready
solutions. Due to economies of scale as volumes increase, second and
third generation designs have resulted in cost reductions through
improved manufacturing and design. |
"What happened in the last year is that the detection in a change
of connectivity is now more important to the organization than the
documentation and knowledge of unauthorized devices or unscheduled
breaks— that has become the tail that wags the dog," says McNees.
"Customers are starting to figure that out." |
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RiT's PatchView system has three main components. A
SMART Patch Panel with LED System allows simple management and
planning of work orders, as well as easy MACs. The PatchView
scanner collects the patching information and reports it over the
LAN. The software package collects real-time information used to
automatically maintain the connectivity database. The system
"visualizes" the data on the computer screen, guiding the network
manager in making all the connections, checking their integrity,
and documenting them in the connectivity database.
Intelligent patching solutions are selling mainly to large
enterprise end users, with operations that require, say, 5,000 cable
drops or more, as opposed to smaller operations with only 50 or so
network users. Still, the solutions are helpful to end users—but a
specific class. Ken Sterritt, a New York state sales representative
for Ortronics, Inc., says the solutions are mostly gaining
popularity with end users who have security concerns. "It's a good
product but it has a specific use," says Sterritt. |
The solutions are not needed—and probably will not ever be
needed—by many enterprise end users. "We look at selling it as a
complement," says Anthony Siderewicz, vice president of copper
products for Ortronics. "We ask, 'What are your needs as a customer?
Is this a good fit?' It's not for everyone."
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Those who are seeking intelligent patching systems, such as end
users in the banking industry, view network performance as critical.
A second market includes end users who view security as critical,
such as government or intelligence offices or hospitals. A third
layer of end users includes older companies or campuses, which see
network operations as critical. |
ITT Industries reports that sales for its LANSense solution in
the past year are up compared to previous years. "We see big growth
in data centers and large enterprises," says Tony Rossiter, managing
director for ITT Industries UK. |
iTRACS says it has seen an increase in sales during the past
year, with end users seeking its partnered solutions that provide
security benefits, business continuity and compliance. |
"We are getting a lot of inquiries now," says McNees. "The
consciousness of this is growing tremendously. In the past few
years, people were not aware that this capability existed. But in
the last nine months, this has dramatically changed, and people are
asking us, 'How can you help us in this area?'" |
The drivers for growth include end users' ongoing quest for
IP-based solutions, as well as administrators' increased
comprehension of the importance of the first layer. |
"Because the market has become more aware of intelligent
infrastructure, 60% of the tenders that are coming out are
mentioning intelligent solutions," says Neil Dellar, e-business
development manager for ITT Industries. "They (end users) are
saying, 'What's good for them is good for us.'" |
And with the price per port dropping, the solutions are becoming
more affordable across the market. Today, the cost per port for a
complete installation is about 25% to 30% more than a
non-intelligent one, or $37 to $45 more for a standard drop.
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But some contractors say that the price has not dropped enough.
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Christopher Hanna, project manager for Telecom Technicians Inc.
(Sterling Heights, MI; www.telecomtech.com) recently installed
SYSTIMAX's iPATCH solution at the Detroit Public Schools' Fisher
Building, an administrative facility. The project involved 3,000
data cable drops, and contractors installed a complete optical-fiber
and copper backbone. Each floor supported 300 pairs of Category 6
cable per closet, with two closets on each floor being fed the cable
from the data center. Thirty-six strands of multimode optical fiber
and 12 strands of singlemode fiber were run to each closet.
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Hanna says the system, which costs about 20% more than a standard
cabling system, worked fluidly. But its cost still makes it
prohibitive for many an end user. "Unfortunately, others can't
afford that cost, and that was probably the only negative I could
see," says Hanna. "That's why it's a hard sell." |
Some contractors say that they will not partner with intelligent
patching manufacturers until the solutions become more in demand. "I
would like to see the demand for it because there is money in it,"
says Stephen Rinkewich, vice president of Control Network
Communications (Albany, NY; www.controlnetwork.com.) |
Nevertheless, Rinkewich thinks the solutions have something to
offer. "If the end user is not responsible enough to manage himself,
then maybe he will pay for a service to come in and do it." But he
also says this scenario is rare because enterprise end users tend to
believe that intelligent patching solutions will force them to hire
additional personnel to maintain their databases. |
It's an argument that pops up frequently, and contractors believe
it is hindering intelligent patching systems' success in the market.
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Rinkewich says the work comes when the end users are expected to
update the solution's database on a daily basis. "And those
day-to-day updates are killers," Rinkewich continues. Accordingly,
some end users are concerned that the solutions will require one
person to be dedicated to them all of the time. |
"A lot of companies don't want to make that financial commitment;
they don't want to add bodies, and it's a full-time job to monitor
that (database)," says Chuck Kerner, infrastructure engineer for
Northrop Grumman Corp. (Raleigh,NC;
www.northropgrumman.com).
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Manufacturers acknowledge there is an element of truth in the
argument that the databases require some ownership on the part of an
IT worker. But it's minimal ownership, they say, and should not
require the hiring of additional IT personnel. "The cost of the
solution and the training for the IT staff is far outweighed by the
savings realized in reduced downtime, improved security and reduced
costs for MACs," says Molex's MacIntosh. |
Many manufacturers are having company representatives stay
on-site once the solutions are installed to input data into their
solutions' database—including inputting information on floor plan
layouts, and the number of cables and patch panels on each floor.
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While there is daily work involved once the manufacturers
leave—including transferring information to the database concerning
added switches, work orders and other inputs— Hanna agrees that
updating is minimal work and doesn't require hiring additional
personnel. For the iPATCH solution he installed at the Detroit
Public School building, Hanna says once the database was created,
the real work was done. |
"Once it's there, it's done until there are some moves—and there
just aren't a whole lot of moves going on," says Hanna. "You just
have to keep whoever is installing new cabling for the adds to give
them the information." |
In fact, most manufacturers argue that intelligent patching
solutions will actually help end users to reduce their IT staff by
helping to automate moves adds and changes (MACs) and streamlining
the troubleshooting process. |
"It's a difficult thing just to move a user," says Motti
Kleinmann, president for North America, RiT Inc., based in Mahwah
NJ. "But with our system, they can do it in a couple of hours or a
couple of minutes." |
MacIntosh says that if a work order is created in a
non-intelligent solution, a technician reads it and completes it. If
a mistake is made, it can cause downtime. The help desk is called,
and a trouble ticket is created. A technician is eventually sent to
the wiring closet to trace the problem to a cable. This process,
says MacIntosh, is extremely time-consuming: "They are on a wild
goose chase." |
The technician who created the work order, meanwhile, updates the
documentation. But if the technician makes a mistake in the
documentation, it can lead to a corrupt database. |
"Before long they've spent more money addressing issues with
mistakes made in the wiring closet as well as changes to
documentation than they would have spent on real time," says
MacIntosh. |
Brian Milligan is senior associate editor for
Cabling Installation & Maintenance. |
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ITRACS solutions:
- Molex Premise Networks' Real Time Patching System works in a
retrofit or new-build. The system works with any cable management
system, not just a proprietary one. Molex says end users will see
a return on investment in a year. It costs roughly $30 to $40 per
port.
- AMPNetconnect's AMPTRAC is a hardware solution that manages
and monitors the connectivity within the telecommunications
closet. The solution costs about $30 per port.
- ITT Industries makes LANSense, which provides global
visibility and control of both local and remote locations.
- Ortronics makes the iTRACS-Ready intelligent structured
cabling solution, which features Clarity patch cords and patch
panels. The solution costs roughly $35 per port.
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SYSTIMAX Solutions:
- The iPATCH solution provides cable, hardware and software, all
of which are built in-house.
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RiT PatchView solutions:
- Panduit's PanView costs between 20% and 25% above the cost of
a passive installation.
- NORDX/CDT makes the IntelliMac-Plus, which is capable of
working with retrofits or new builds, and is the only one to offer
an X-Connect solution.
- Brand-Rex sells SMART Patch.
- KRONE has also started marketing the PatchView
solution.
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Cabling Installation & Maintenance July,
2004 Author(s) : Brian
Milligan |
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