On Wed, Apr 27, 2011 at 8:17 AM, Patrick Cable <[email protected]> wrote:
> Well, why do you believe that they are? I'm being sincere - I have never > done a cabling RFP and am curious about why I would want to request these > things. Justify it to a technical audience and then distill it down for a > non-technical person to understand. Pat, Thank you -- you nailed what I was missing. I need to explain *why* it's important and not throw acronyms around and expect that everyone will understand. I should know better and I appreciate that you pointed that out. I have seen, worked with, and/or worked near quality cabling work and substandard cabling work. I have also managed or been a key player in multiple office moves and/or build outs. Even when I worked for a really small company, I ensured that their structured cable installation was quality. In my experience (and that of folks who are even geekier about cabling than I am), substandard cabling work leads to long term problems and additional expense in terms of man hours troubleshooting "odd" problems, the cost of running new drops or re-terminating poorly or incorrectly terminated cables, the cost associated with and the time lost digging through spaghetti, and the cost of user downtime. For example, I have been in more than one situation where a less than stellar vendor was chosen for the job and that resulted in bad cable runs that had to be redone. The primary driving force behind my desire to put out an RFP that will result in bids from vendors who are qualified to do work that meets my standards is to get it done right from the start. I do not believe that certifications or degrees in specific areas mean that any individual is definitively more qualified than another. That said, some certs are worth more than others and this particular area of certification is, at the very least, an indication of an individual vendor's desire to do a good job. BICSI = Building Industry Consulting Service International, Inc. http://www.bicsi.org RCDD = Registered Communications Distribution Designer https://www.bicsi.org/double.aspx?l=2558&r=2560 RCDD Code of Conduct: https://www.bicsi.org/double.aspx?l=5020&r=5040 Why would you want an RCDD? BICSI provides a PDF at https://www.bicsi.org/uploadedfiles/pdfs/bicsi/Web-Who_Should.pdf To summarize that document: the folks who have achieved RCDD certification are more likely to have the skills necessary to make your installation project a success. BICSI certification is required by many gov't and military agencies. That doesn't preclude someone who doesn't have that certification from being a cabling wizard, but companies that support the BICSI certification of their employees tend to be the ones who do better work. ITS = Information Technology Systems. (I personally find that terminology misleading.) There are multiple levels of ITS certifications: https://www.bicsi.org/programs.aspx?l=2586&r=2588&c=inST1 - ITS 1 https://www.bicsi.org/programs.aspx?l=2594&r=2602&c=inST2F - ITS 2, Optical Fiber https://www.bicsi.org/programs.aspx?l=2592&r=2600&c=inST2C - ITS 2, Copper https://www.bicsi.org/programs.aspx?l=2596&r=2604&c=TECH - ITS Technician ITS Code of Conduct: https://www.bicsi.org/double.aspx?l=5024&r=5040 This is a junior certification to the RCDD. An ITS will know the difference between flat cable and rolled cable and will not attempt to terminate to the wrong kind of RJ-45 connectors -- something which I have personally experienced with contractors who weren't qualified for the job. Fortunately it was a small job so re-terminating all of the cabling wasn't too much work for me, but it's illustrative. On that job, one installer flipped two of the pairs so we ended up with a system that would work if it was directly connected, but not if a hub was involved. Or perhaps it was vice versa. Structured cabling is currently the foundation to a successful corporate installation. Everything will ride on it (unless you go purely wireless) and if it's not done right you'll burn a lot of money troubleshooting and rectifying the situation. Add in to that the fact that cabling isn't something that you can swap out as easily as server or network device due to the fact that it's in your walls and there is a compelling argument for doing it right from the start even if you're using Greenfield. > The only thing that seems kind of odd to me is the direct employee > requirement. If the company is reputable it will use decent subcontractors - > but, I've also never done this so maybe I'm naive. If the vendor is going to sub the job out, then why do I need the vendor? The sub may or may not do the job right, the vendor will point fingers at the sub, the sub will point fingers at the vendor, and I'll be left attempting to explain to higher-ups why the job wasn't planned properly, wasn't done on time and/or wasn't done correctly. If I have access to vendors who do have in-house staff who are committed to doing a good job for their company (of which there are multiple in my geographic area), then that's what I want. I know that if I select a quality vendor who has project managers on staff I won't have to babysit them at the job site, won't have to worry about things being done incorrectly, and in the event that things are not done correctly, they will rectify the situation. If I spec for an OSHA certified person on site, I will have fewer concerns about site safety. I also know that if I use a quality vendor even if I make a mistake on the RFP or the implementation or I do something silly like spec the wrong type of cable management and it turns out that I hate it, they will fix it. Do you think this will help clarify to a non-technical audience? Thanks in advance, M
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