Released: July 2009
The early adopter’s smile
Graeme Stoker of Siemon reviews the 10G choices made by the early adopter’s of a decade ago and explains why he thinks they have a good reason to smile.
Many Happy Returns! Of course in our industry a ‘return’ has a number of meanings. ‘return loss’ springs to mind, as does a ‘return to site’, but in the current economic climate, a ‘return on investment’ seems more appropriate.
One thing’s for sure, right now the average IT network manager and end user will surely be focusing on this area more than ever before, as they come under increasing pressure to justify their IT investment decisions to the financial director or CEO. Should the money go into new software? Or new network cabling? New switches, or a new fibre link? What’s the most important element of IT right now and how can the network manager justify their spending decisions?
With this in mind, installers and network cabling manufacturers will need to be armed and ready to answer the call for increased Return on Investment (ROI) from network cabling solutions and be prepared to state a strong case for one cabling technology over another.
It’s worth looking back to see how the decisions made by the early adopters of 10G have turned out in terms of ROI: For some UK businesses, the investment decisions made nearly a decade ago continue to pay dividends today, and better still, they look pretty good for the next 15 years to come. In 2002, the category 7 Class F standard was ratified and a select number of manufacturers began marketing their connector interfaces – in fact some solutions were available from as early as 1999.
At that time, the performance of these ‘next generation’ cabling systems was truly ground breaking, especially knowing that most of the UK market was still trying to grasp the reality of category 5e cabling, not to mention the birth of category 6 that was just round the corner. But, as with most product innovation, it’s the early adopters that stepped forward to critique and scrutinize this new cabling technology.
“Is there an application for it?”, “Is it ratified?”, “How easy is it to install?”, “How does it perform?”, “What can I run over it?”, “What are the benefits to my business today and tomorrow?” were all good questions. True product innovators and technology pioneers absolutely love these challenges, as they provide the platform for demonstrating technical competence, proving product performance, applying it to real world requirements, predicting future trends and above all meeting, if not exceeding, client expectations. This is where true product/service differentiation and meaningful ‘value add’ becomes a reality.
The category 7 end clients of 10 years ago would today still be covered by a solid system application assurance warranty from the manufacturer and would be capable of migrating towards 10Gig Ethernet as and when deemed necessary. Knowing that 10Gig networks (both category 7 and 6a) are being sold and installed today to last at least 10 years, the early adopters of category 7 technology back in 1999 or even 2002 are sitting pretty, confidently knowing their network is actually going to be running applications some 20+ years after the original installation date. In a world where the future seems so uncertain, this must feel like the cleverest of investment decisions.
Consider this ROI argument from alternative product perspective: When you purchase a good quality punch-down or cable prep tool you do so on the assumption it will perform long term and that your initial £20 will in fact be repaid over the years to come. I have seen this logic born out countless times in visits to installers in the field, seeing them working with tools that have been used for many, many years – and still operating as well as they did on the day of purchase.
We can apply this concept to network cabling investment and end user ROI, if we look at the annualized cost per network outlet over the total cabling life cycle. We quickly see why these early adopters remain so smug with installed channel costs falling even below today’s installed category 5e prices. Obviously category 7/7a and 6a networks will cost more on day one, but if the initial installation cost is spread over 10, 15 or 20 years, the cost per outlet becomes very attractive. In the current economic circumstances, when IT network managers need to spend wisely, ROI and network life cycle must be a bigger consideration than ever before.
The good thing is that the process by which those early adopters made their choices hasn’t changed much in a decade. They continue to measure and compare quality, service, performance and value.
For those who want to embrace future-facing technology like the early adopter but need help to find an extra value argument for this year’s budget, cable sharing is a compelling migration path. Category 7/7a can be installed to run several low bandwidth applications now with the future option to employ it for fewer hungrier applications – without re-cabling. Because each pair is individually shielded, it is possible to carry multiple media types through the same cable. This solution offers significant bandwidth flexibility; for example, four pair 10G Gigabit Ethernet, or two pair 10/100 Ethernet or single pair, voice or video applications to the desk. It’s the perfect ‘cake and eat it’ scenario in ROI terms.
Longer product life cycles and intelligent migration paths that increase network ROI are the types of messages that the average network manager needs to know and apply in order to justify his or her slice of the IT budget pie. As we experience challenging economic times and an ever changing competitive landscape, the companies that can best demonstrate tangible end user and installer benefits derived from their network cabling solutions, are clearly more likely to prosper.
The early adopters of 10G capable cabling have now had the benefit of its performance for up to 10 years. They haven’t had to re-cable in that time because their demands overtook their infrastructure; they haven’t had that expense or disruption. Their foresighted choice has been proven to have a much lower lifetime cost than the ubiquitous category 5e and they’ve received a warranted system that will continue to perform for many years yet. It’s easy to see why they might smile. Category 6a or 7/7a are currently the most advanced systems available so for maximum lifetime value they continue to be the investment of choice and most likely to generate smiles all round.
About Siemon
Established in 1903, Siemon™ is an industry leader specialising in the manufacture and innovation of high quality, high-performance network cabling solutions. With global offices and partners throughout the world, Siemon offers the most comprehensive suite of copper (unshielded and shielded twisted-pair) and fibre cabling systems available and is one of only three network cabling infrastructure companies worldwide with true global partnership capabilities. With over 400 active patents specific to structured cabling, Siemon Labs invests heavily in R&D and development of industry standards, underlining the company’s long-term commitment to its customers and the industry.
www.siemon.co.uk
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Structured Cabling, The Siemon Company | Debbie Ireland | 
September 29, 2009 9:55 am | 
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