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Andersen
Consulting puts patch-cord management plan into action
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Andersen
Consulting, a global management and technology consulting
firm, employs more than 53,000 professionals and earns
more than $6 billion annually. The firm's mission is
to help clients from a wide range of industries achieve
success by aligning people, processes, and technology
with sound strategy to achieve optimal business performance.
As a rule, Andersen Consulting looks outside traditional
industry borders to expand and improve its business.
That approach is in line with the recent steps that
one division of the company - The Financial Ideas Exchange
- took to upgrade the performance and aesthetics of
its patch-cord management system. The division is located
in the heart of Manhattan and was dealing with a patch-cord
management system that was as tough to negotiate as
New York City traffic and is typical of our industry;
it looked like a rat's nest.
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Andersen dealt
with two Category 5 management structures. One was a cabinet with
patch panels and a concentrator
with 100Base-T and 10Base-T boards, and the other was a 110 wall
field with more than 350 patch cords interfacing between the horizontal
cabling system and the network equipment. The Andersen Consulting
Technology team, led by Jay Feliciano, constantly faced loose connections,
excessive time spent tracing patch cords, and the everyday embarrassment
of unattractive management systems. The team had repeatedly attempted
to clean up these systems, using traditional management techniques
that did not work for them.
Finally, Feliciano decided to try the PerfectPatch, a device that
provides adjustability to each patch-cord and custom fits the cord
in seconds.
"It
seems like such a simple concept; you really can't believe its performance
until you see it for yourself," Feliciano says. "Now all
I have to do is look at the management system to see if the people
on my staff are using the PerfectPatch on each cord. And I know
my system looks great and functions well."
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"I
am greatly impressed by the improved aesthetics and management
that have taken place by installing the PerfectPatch .
Now I don't have to worry about snagging or disconnecting
other patch cords and putting someone out of commission
when moving a patch-cord." |
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Bill
Hermack, EE
System Administrator |
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| Developing
the future standard for high performance cables. NEMA is developing
the Performance Standard for Category 6 and Category 7 (100 ohm) Shielded
and Unshielded Twisted Pair Cables. NEMA Standards Publications
No. WC66-199x. |
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| PerfectPatch
is Utilized in BICSI
Installation Training Program! |
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Chip
Barnes
RCDD/LAN Specialist
President, Data Tel |
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| "The
PerfectPatch
provides the contractor and end-user a level of flexibility
in patch-cord management previously unavailable to the
industry." |
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| Chip
Barnes demonstrates how the PerfectPatch clips onto a
patch-cord in seconds, allowing you to adjust your patch-cord
to a custom fit. This will drastically improve the management
and performance over the life cycle of your patch-cord
management system. |
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From
the Installation Team:
"At JCS, we were amazed how little
time & effort was required to use the PerfectPatch, keeping
the patch-cords in these racks neat, quick to trace, and easy
to move." |
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Lou
Johnson,
President
Johnson
Communications
Services |
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| As
published in the February, 1998 issue of Communications
News |
| Second
time's a charm |
When
tailored patch cords couldn't fix a rat's nest of cables,
Cellular One used patch cord adjusters to give each cord a custom
fit. |
| by
Lou Johnson, Johnson Communications Services |
It's
a problem any company would love to have. Business was so good
at Cellular One of Kansas that making rooms and providing connectivity
for rapidly growing sales and customer service groups was turning
into a huge challenge for the facilities and information systems
staff.
The IS staff had
to support significantly more users and systems without having
the space to expand the computer room. Cabinets were packed
with equipment and tangles of patch cords that were unmanageable.
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Johnson Communications
Services (JCS) of Bucyrus, Kansas, was hired to bring order to the
patch cord chaos. They replaced existing closed six-foot cabinets
with open racks. Every patch cord in the LAN racks was rerun, tailored
to length, and neatly routed. It was the best solution available
at the time, but the neatness didn't last long.
With the new open racks and additional hubs, the patch cord problem
was magnified. IS technicians found that tailored cords did not
move from one part to another easily-they were always too long or
too short. Cords of excess length became knotted in the wire management
panels and were drooping on the floor.
Johnson
Communications Services (JCS) of Bucyrus, Kansas, was hired to bring
order to the patch cord chaos. They replaced existing closed six-foot
cabinets with open racks. Every patch cord in the LAN racks was
rerun, tailored to length, and neatly routed. It was the best solution
available at the time, but the neatness didn't last long.
With
the new open racks and additional hubs, the patch cord problem was
magnified. IS technicians found that tailored cords did not move
from one part to another easily-they were always too long or too
short. Cords of excess length became knotted in the wire management
panels and were drooping on the floor.
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Fortunately,
JCS had a new option - patch cord adjusters called PerfectPatches,
from PerfectPatch, Inc., of Sterling, VA. They allow installers
to adjust the length of a patch cord up to 60% of its original length
instead of letting the slack hang everywhere. Each time a patch
cord is moved, the PerfectPatch is removed to adjust the patch cord
for a custom fit.
Starting at 8pm one Saturday, JCS reworked the Cellular One network
racks with PerfectPatches - no small task with well over 350 patch
cords and cables across two racks. Every patch cord and cable was
removed from the racks. Larger wire management rings were installed
and, starting from scratch, each connection and cord was rerun,
this time using the new patches.
Nine hours
later, the job was done. Everything was reconnected and once again
the racks were looking good.
At the same
time, Steve Sartain, IS network engineer and the lead strategist
for the Cellular One network, implemented new switching and segmentation
to better manage and maintain the network. Every device level connection
was documented.
Cellular One
is confident the fix will last this time. Every patch cord can be
traced; there are not knots; and there is no slack lying on the
floor.
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PerfectPatch
Copyright
2009 by PerfectPatch, Inc. All rights reserved. |
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