Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 30 | Page 65

INDUSTRY WATCH INDUSTRY NEEDS TO RECOGNISE NETWORK CABLING INFRASTRUCTURE AS THE FOURTH UTILITY AND GIVE IT THE IMPORTANCE IT DESERVES. C Can you outline the regulations – or lack of – surrounding [network] data centre infrastructure at present? It’s quite an alarming fact to know that there are no regulations around network cable infrastructure installation and even more alarming when you realise that anyone can be responsible for installing the infrastructure that we all rely on in our personal and business lives. It’s often the case that network infrastructure is simply not considered or is deemed as low tech, when in fact it is essential in many critical situations such as air traffic control, hospitals, traffic lights and communication. What happens when they go wrong? Industry needs to recognise network cabling infrastructure as the fourth utility and give it the importance it deserves. There should be tighter regulation to help increase quality of service, be more professional generally and allow customers to feel more confident and trust the quality of the installation. This is in addition to helping to safeguard the industry, making it more attractive for new talent, after all we are in competition with other industries to attract good people. What are the potential implications of this? If the network cable infrastructure is not installed correctly and it goes wrong it is hugely costly and inconvenient – you www.intelligentcio.com only need to read the press about the impact of cancelled flights, accessibility to online apps, lock outs on government systems, the list goes on. This is without considering any legal implications that could occur, increasing costs even more and absorbing valuable time. Sure, not all outages are caused by the network infrastructure failure as human error comes into it too; however it does highlight several gaps that could be filled relatively easily with regulation/ certification. Many deem regulation as being a time-consuming paper exercise. However it is needed. You wouldn’t dream of being an electrician without having the right certifications, it should be the same for those working within network cabling considering the importance of the task being carried out. Everyone talks about quality of installation but how do we currently know the installers have adopted the current standards and codes of practice during the install? It could be self-regulated. However, this would involve the entire industry working together to agree processes that would work for all. Creating our own benchmark as a minimum and this being accepted and recognised throughout the industry is the first step. Yes, it would need to be policed and externally, otherwise it has no value whatsoever. This echoes previous discussions about the need for a trusted trade association that could take this on, put the processes in place and manage it for everyone, effectively becoming the central watchdog for all. INTELLIGENTCIO 65