Achieving Cost-Efficiencies and Sustainability Through Network Infrastructure Best Practices

Transcription

1 Achieving Cost-Efficiencies and Sustainability Through Network Infrastructure Best Practices By Bob Eskew, Founder and CEO of Automated Systems Design, Inc. (ASD) Automated Systems Design, Inc. (ASD) (770) Goddard Court Alpharetta, GA TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2 WHERE WE ARE NOW 2 RE-EVALUATING THE SUPPLY CHAIN 3 ASSESSING TECHNOLOGY USE 4 PURCHASING PROCESSES AND CRITERIA 5 PLANNING THE INFRASTRUCTURE DESIGN 6 CONCLUSION 6

2 Achieving Cost-Efficiencies and Sustainability Through Network Infrastructure Best Practices EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Going green is often associated with spending green. Sustainable technologies have a reputation of costing more than traditional technologies. As with any new technology, innovation requires capital and expenses that are passed on to buyers. Sometimes organizations experience cost savings as a result of going green, but often these cost savings are not enough to justify the added expense for green technology. While some companies are willing to spend additional funds on green technology for the sole sake of adopting more eco-friendly business practices, most companies are not in a position to implement technologies that do not have a bottom line return on investment. But what if going green made more business sense? What if we could rethink the way we implement and use network infrastructure technology for the sake of improving operations and reducing costs, with the added benefit of being more eco-friendly as well? Automated Systems Design, Inc. (ASD), a nationwide manufacturer and service provider of information transport systems (ITS), has spent years developing best practices for cost-effectively implementing network infrastructures and has discovered over time that many of these best practices have the added benefit of being eco-friendly. Even though these best practices were originally designed to reduce costs and create business efficiencies, they also reduce the use of resources and decrease waste. This white paper features best practices for reducing costs and increasing sustainability in the following four areas related network infrastructure technology: Section 1: Supply Chain Section 2: Technology Use Section 3: Purchasing Processes Section 4: Planning Infrastructure Design Let s begin by taking a look at the current state of the ITS industry. WHERE WE ARE NOW The structured cabling industry still has a long way to go before it can be considered green, but many organizations within the industry are making strides in the right direction. BICSI and other industry organizations have engaged in discussions with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in an effort to add Division 27 products, such as data, voice, audio, and video cabling technologies, to the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Materials and Resource category. However, as of yet, these products have not been included in the rating system. If Division 27 products are eventually added to this category, structured cabling will be able to contribute in the areas of materials recycling, waste reduction and use of resources. Even though Division 27 products are not yet directly able to contribute to LEED certification, there are other areas where structured cabling can contribute indirectly. For instance, building automation systems currently qualify for LEED credits, which means the Building Automation Standard (BAS) TIA-862 is another way structured cabling can support systems that qualify for LEED credits. Structured cabling products and designs can also contribute to LEED credits indirectly through energy savings that meet the standards of the Energy & Atmosphere category. Despite the lack of formal recognition of the green efforts of the structured cabling industry, significant strides toward sustainable cabling products and designs are still possible through best practices that can be initiated industry wide. There are small improvements that can be made in each phase of technology infrastructure rollouts that will save resources, energy, time and money. Keep reading to learn how. 2

3 RE-EVALUATING THE SUPPLY CHAIN The best place to start when it comes to increasing the sustainability and efficiency of the cabling industry is reevaluating the industry s product supply chain, which traditionally follows a multi-tier distribution channel. By re-thinking the way we move products and technicians to job-sites, organizations can save money, energy, time and resources. Proximity of products and resources to the job site is a critical component in cutting costs and reducing the use of resources. In fact, LEED s Materials & Resources category encourages the use of locally produced and transported products and materials. Manufacturer Manufacturer Rep Firm Distributor Contractor End User Multi-Tier Distribution Channel products that go through a multi-tier distribution channel. This not only decreases overall costs for end users, but it also reduces the resources need to distribute products. The cabling product supply chain is not the only supply chain to affect infrastructure costs. The distribution channel for moving technicians and supplies to project sites also influences the final cost of a project, especially when it comes to national rollouts. Technician Supply Chain When technicians have to travel a significant distance to reach a project site, additional costs are accrued and unnecessary resources are used. Travel and shipping expenses are often passed on to end users. However, there is an alterative to deploying technicians from central or regional locations. In the traditional supply chain, a manufacturer hires a manufacturer s rep firm to sell the manufacturer s products in a designated territory for an agreed upon commission. The product then makes a stop at a distributor, who then sells it to a contractor, who in turn marks up the product before selling it to an end user. As a result of the distribution handling costs and markups, end users often unnecessarily spend hundreds of thousands of dollars, even millions, of additional dollars, on structured cabling technologies without receiving any additional benefits in terms of cable performance. The additional touch points also mean unnecessary resources are needed to constantly move product from one distribution point to the next. Manufacturer End User Direct-Buy Channel To streamline the supply chain, ASD developed a directbuy distribution channel that moves product from the manufacturer to the end user in the most efficient manner possible. To make this possible, ASD became its own manufacturer of cabling products and now offers products directly to end users instead of forcing end users to purchase End users can take advantage of national affiliate programs, which strategically place technicians across the country in an effort to reduce the amount of travel and resources used to complete projects. ASD developed the Authorized ASD Installers (AASDI) affiliate program in 1992, which now has more than 700 points of operation and 12,000 technicians in various markets across the country. Without the affiliate program, ASD would have to deploy technicians and supplies from a central or regional facility, which may or may not be located near end user project sites. As ASD continues to add technicians to its network, more territories can be reached with less travel. Through the affiliate program, end users receive local on-site support, as well as consistency in project design, engineering and management, all with minimal travel. In 3

4 addition, end users also have the ability to tap into the benefits of working with a national company, including participating in group buying power opportunities. Streamlining both the product supply chain and the service supply chain can provide lasting benefits for end users, as well as for structured cabling companies. In addition to saving end users and cabling companies money, these shortened supply chains also promote sustainable business practices by delivering products and services as efficiently as possible, using as few resources as possible. ASSESSING TECHNOLOGY USE Today s infrastructure is the technology backbone on which nearly all other technologies rely. The majority of all building systems from ventilation, lighting, power systems, fire systems, to communication and data technologies, depend upon a single network infrastructure. If not properly designed and installed, the infrastructure can cause widespread disruptions that affect daily operations. Organizations that take a whole-building approach to infrastructure design ensure that all areas of technology work together in a fully optimized system. An evaluation of the entire infrastructure and technology use of your organization helps to accurately determine needs. This comprehensive approach leads to improved energy efficiency, reduced total cost of ownership, and increased overall performance. Your technology evaluation should begin with a big picture analysis of what systems currently rely upon your technology infrastructure and how they are used, and then move to a more detailed analysis of individual components and how they interact. Consider the following: 1. How many systems are currently on your network? 2. What are the current and future requirements of each system? 3. Are there systems that are unnecessary or being under utilized? 4. Are there systems that have reached capacity and are over used? 5. What systems will likely be added or expanded in the foreseeable future? Although building systems operate independently, the overall impact of each system on the network is significant. By collaborating with each department and learning about the needs of each system, you will be able to better anticipate the requirements of the overall network infrastructure prior to making any installations. You have likely heard the term right sizing, which is an evaluation process used to make sure a project does not provide more technology than you can use or less technology than you need. For instance, predicting network bandwidth can be tricky without in-depth, detailed knowledge of each system running on the network. If you do not properly predict network bandwidth, you risk purchasing too much cable or too little cable, or the wrong type of cable. Cables are rated for bandwidth transmission, but the ratings often refer to burst data transmission and not daily use levels. Even though the network may be able to handle bursts in data transmission, the system is not designed to support high levels of data transmission on a regular basis. These are the type of issues you need to keep in mind when you are taking an inventory of all the systems on your network to predict usage. There are two major downfalls when it comes to right sizing you infrastructure that can impact the cost and sustainability of your technology infrastructure system: 1) Wasting resources by implementing a system with technologies that will never be fully utilized before the technology becomes obsolete and 2) Building an infrastructure that is not capable of expanding, resulting in abandonment of the system for an entirely new system in the near future. Neither of these scenarios supports a cost-effective sustainable design. The ideal scenario is to build an infrastructure system that will support your current and future needs without overspending on technology that will soon become obsolete. Technology changes so rapidly that it is impossible to predict an organization s needs 15 or 20 years down the road, but it is possible to meet your organization s immediate needs, while incorporating three to five years of growth or a 30% to 40% growth factor. The key is to build an infrastructure that is flexible and can be expanded instead of building a system that has to be ripped out and replaced when it reaches capacity. 4

5 In addition to conducting a big picture analysis, it is also important to look at the details. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), IT systems and communications equipment account for as much as 5 to 10 percent of total energy usage for the average U.S. building 1. While much of the energy is spent on lighting, ventilation, and cooling, communications equipment also plays a significant role in energy usage. Conducting a detailed assessment of your current technology usage will help you evaluate the use of your communication systems and devices and eliminate unnecessary equipment. A detailed analysis will also help you identify redundancies in technology, as well as spot systems that can be combined into a single system. For instance, you might be able to replace multiple desktop printers with one print server. You may also be able to reduce expenses and energy use by replacing power-hungry desktop computers with energy-saving laptops. Desktops, which frequently require the backup of an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) to protect data, use a significant amount of energy to operate, even on standby. In contrast, a UPS is generally built-in on a laptop. By having a complete view of your system and how it operates, you are able to right size your technology more effectively, which reduces wasted resources and unnecessary expenses. It also saves you from making costly upgrades sooner than necessary. PURCHASING PROCESSES AND CRITERIA As more demand is put on infrastructure systems due to high-bandwidth data transfers and convergence trends, organizations are using more resources, not fewer. However, fiber optic systems, may change this. Installing fiber optic cables instead of copper cables is one way to promote energy efficiency while balancing cost and future proofing. Currently, fiber optic cables are one of the industries most viable solutions for increased speed, reduced material usage, and reduced power consumption. Fiber Optic Cables Fiber optic systems show the most potential for providing sufficient bandwidth and reliability at a low enough cost to meet consumer demands for the next decade, which means fewer standard performance cables will be abandoned in the future. Abandoned cables not only mean excessive waste, but if left in conduits, abandon cables block airflow, resulting in increased cooling and heating costs. Fiber optic cables, which transmit larger amounts of data at higher speeds over greater distances using fewer cables than copper cables, provide an option to help end users balance the increasing need for speed and high-volume data transfer with the cost of technology. Fiber optic cables also help reduce power consumption and overall energy costs. Unlike copper cables, fiber optic cables are not electrical in nature, which means there is less power consumption for the IT network and lower operating costs. One of the most significant benefits of fiber optic cable is its ability to transport different types of data over a single cable and one network instead of following the traditional structure of using separate cables for video, telephone and Internet data. Fiber optic systems also transport data over much greater distances than copper, and fiber cables are thinner and lighter than their copper counterparts, which means they can be shipped and installed more cost efficiently, using fewer resources. Optical ports also draw less power than copper ports. While the process of making fiber optic cables has not yet become a green practice, the main raw material used as the basis for the cable is from silicon dioxide, which is found in approximately 75% of the accessible earth s crust mostly in the form of sand. Fortunately sand is created in large amounts by the natural process referred to as the rock cycle, where rocks are constantly being formed, worn down and then formed again. 1 Weig, Gislene D. Communicating Sustainability Part I: A Call for Information Technology and Communications Systems to Go Green. Environmental Design & Construction. October 1,

6 PLANNING THE INFRASTRUCTURE DESIGN An important factor in designing a sustainable system is bringing Registered Communications Distribution Designers (RCDD) on board early in the process. Through proper planning and design, it is possible to maximize space utilization, reduce facility operating costs, and increase energy efficiency. Below is an example of an infrastructure renovation ASD designed for a client to reduce use of copper cables, improve future-proofing and decrease energy costs. The original infrastructure design, was comprised of CAT5E copper cables that connected each workstation to the sole equipment room on the bottom floor. This design of homerunning the copper cables from each workstation to the lowest level of the building meant that hundreds of feet of copper cabling had to be run through the floors. To help reduce energy use and cost, the copper cable backbone was replaced with a fiber optic cable backbone that connects to individual intermediate distribution frames (IDF) on each level. This eliminated the need to homerun copper cables from the top of the building to the bottom of the building, reducing the amount of copper cable needed and replacing them with fiber optic cables, which are more energy efficient and provide more bandwidth. With the rising cost of copper, replacing nearly a third of the copper cable that would have been needed for the upgrade with a fiber optic backbone, meant that the client company saved enough money to upgrade the remaining copper cables to Category 6 cable to meet future technology demands. This is just one example of how planning can help reduce resources and increase energy efficiency. Mobility & Cloud Computing Mobility is a core foundational principle when it comes to establishing a sustainable work environment, and cloud computing is a major component in supporting a mobile workforce. ASD has been operating on a private cloud for years and continues migrate toward private cloud computing. Through cloud computing, ASD was able to go from 20 servers to seven, with plans to reduce the number of servers even further. However, moving to cloud computing without analyzing your current infrastructure can lead to inefficiencies. In order for cloud computing to provide economies of scale, your infrastructure must be, scalable, reliable, and capable of handling bandwidth requirements. Investing in a robust infrastructure now will means increased future-proofing. CONCLUSION Achieving significant cost and energy efficiencies not only makes business sense, but it also promotes sustainability throughout the structured cabling industry when efficiency best practices are followed. The key to achieving efficiency is making improvements at every stage of implementation, from the supply chain, to planning to purchasing. When all of these areas are designed to work together, your organization can improve its bottom line by reducing its use of resources and energy. About the Author Bob Eskew, RCDD, is the founder and CEO of Automated Systems Design Inc. (ASD), which provides manufacturing, management and maintenance of nationwide custom turnkey Information Transport Systems. ASD, a fivetime Inc. 500/5000 company, manufactures high-performance icat-its copper offerings, including CAT 5E, CAT 6E, and 10-gigabit CAT 6a cables, as well as iglo-its fiber optic products. For details, visit 6