Let's paint a picture —
There’s a new construction project planned to commence in the 1st Quarter for your company. It’s your first day as a new member of the project team, you step into the executive conference room and you are surrounded by colleagues, architects, engineers, owner reps, landlord, stakeholders and an ITS designer. You are a professional in the technology sector with 20 years of experience, which encompasses all aspects of technology from networking to the installation of layer-1 components. You got this; you’ve seen it all. It’s just another project—a Data Center Design & Build—how hard can it be?
From the onset of the kick off meeting, and shortly after introductions are completed, you are hearing what you think is a different language. What is everyone talking about? Why don’t you understand what the architect and engineers are discussing? Immediately, alarm bells go off in your head when the ITS designer starts to take control and advises both the architect and engineer on their designs. How is it possible they understand the ITS designer and are able to act as interpreters between all the major players in this room. Why is EVERYONE listening to the “cabling guy”? Doesn’t he just design telephone cables?
ITS integration ensures a successful data infrastructure
In our industry, this scenario is becoming increasingly common. Technology advancements over the past decade have escalated faster than the industry can react, with no end in sight. The driving force behind such advancements are the connectivity requirements and bandwidth demands which must be considered not just for today but for years to come.
In today’s market it is imperative to have a knowledgeable ITS integrator assisting you and the other trade designers to ensure you receive the best connectivity and bandwidth designs for your environment. Arming yourself with this expertise and guidance guarantees your infrastructure will not only comply with current standards, but will also exceed today's demands, thereby safeguarding your infrastructure investment for the inevitable technological advancements of the future.
Having an ITS designer that understands the required terminology, current and future trends, focal and pain points of both the architects and engineers is the key to a successful project. A competent ITS designer should perform the role of a translator for all, no matter their discipline. They act like the liaison for everyone, from the designers to the end user. They should be able to have a full understanding of the space to be designed, the complexities associated with the facility, and the difficulties the architects and engineers will face with the existing conditions. This specific skill set is imperative to meet the client’s design intent and be able to explain the solutions to these difficulties in layman’s terms for all parties to understand and proceed.
Make complex projects simple
In an effort to simplify the ITS designer’s linguistic skills, imagine you’re in a car and ready to take a nice leisurely drive. Did you ever wonder how all of the components within the car work so well together? So now imagine the design acting like a cabling harness installed within your car. The harness connects all the electronic and electrical components to the main computer. Without this harness, your headlights, turning signals, fuel injection, and sparkplug firing sequence will not work seamlessly. Without this harness supporting the components’ communication with one another, your leisurely drive becomes obsolete.
Your ITS designer should act just like this wiring harness. They should make your project and communications between all the parties just as simple as pressing the ignition on your car—so you can enjoy your drive without complication.
Interested in learning more about how Align can help on your next Data Center Project?
To learn more about Align's Data Center Solution, visit here.
