Telaid is a huge supporter of BICSI, the worldwide association for cabling design and installation professionals that sets the global standard in physical layer infrastructure. Because we understand the value of infrastructure, we make it our business to have our technicians BICSI trained and certified. In fact, we have a BICSI Authorized Training Facility at our Norcross, GA office. After all, we believe that securing the quality of your network is one of the most important things you can do to ensure the success of your technology deployments. Much like a bridge, if your foundation fails, you’re underwater.
A well planned, installed and maintained network infrastructure is worth its weight in gold, and positioned to become even more important as “connected buildings” are quickly filling with IoT devices that deliver a constant stream of data via the network.
The BICSI Winter Conference held in Orlando, FL from February 4-8, 2018 reminded us of some important best practices when it comes to physical layer infrastructure.
Invest in infrastructure
Structured cable infrastructure is an estimated 5 percent of the total dollars spent on network components, but defects can end up costing far more in replacement costs, emergency labor and system downtime. Don’t make the mistake of cutting costs on critical infrastructure that supports all connected technologies.
Stay consistent
Your entire cable network's structure is only as strong as its weakest link. When the time comes to expand your network and use patch cables, make sure those materials are certified and properly installed and labeled. Use of counterfeit cables can degrade the quality of your entire network.
Qualified help
Get qualified technicians to install your physical layer infrastructure. The basic “blocking and tackling” is where many IT infrastructure projects fail before they even get the “mainstage” technology deployed. Select BICSI trained and certified installers to ensure the work is done right the first time.
Think about the explosion of IoT. In 2016, there were 6.4 billion “connected” devices in buildings. In 2020, that number is expected to reach more than 20 billion. The growing importance of technology integration makes the quality of your physical layer infrastructure more important than ever. And if you need help assessing your IT infrastructure projects, turn to Telaid. We are prepared to make sure the fundamentals are in place to ensure the success of your technology deployments.
