Cable management is a nightmare. Nearly every desk or server room eventually becomes a chaotic mess of cords and wires. It’s not just aesthetically displeasing; it makes using technology more difficult and can actually cause some devices to fail.
If you work with an IT professional to overhaul, upgrade, or expand your IT infrastructure, one of the best ways to judge the quality of the work you’re paying for is to pay attention to how they treat cable management.
Not All Installations Are the Same
The importance of cable management is largely dependent on how intensive an installation is. For example, setting up a new wireless network doesn’t require much; a router and a handful of cables are all that’s necessary. Still, a professional will take care to make sure the cables he or she leaves behind are easily accessible and well-organized to prevent confusion or user error in the future.
In the professional IT world, however, most jobs aren’t this easy and almost all will involve much more intensive cabling. Building a computer network, for example, may require a technician to build a complex custom system from scratch. Setting up server rooms and running cable through new buildings or even a building in the midst of a renovation which becomes more intensive. A technician’s ability to assemble such systems is one thing; their ability to make them organized, easy to use, and aesthetically pleasing is another.
Appearances Matter
You spend a lot of time working in and around your network. Its appearance should matter to you, even if you don’t want to admit it. Having a mess of cables running through your office isn’t conducive to productivity. It can be hazardous, and doesn’t present the best image to existing and potential new clients who visit your office.
There’s something immensely satisfying about great cable management. It’s a perfect marriage of form and function, and draws your eyes to where the cabling connects to the hardware it supports. It’s properly color-coded so that you know what kind of function every cable serves and understand the staggering amount of data that runs through it every second. It makes it easy for your technician (or his or her successor) to return and perform ongoing maintenance without having to waste time discerning the nature of your architecture thanks to chaotic cabling.
Not every technician has to be an artist with their cable; you’ll be able to tell when cable management is highly functional, even if it doesn’t look like a stock photograph of great cabling.
Cable Management by Xpert Technologies
If IT services are meals, cable management is that perfect garnish or spice that goes with everything (thyme, maybe? We’re technicians, not chefs). We make sure that all of our work can be identified by our great cable management. We never want you to look at your infrastructure and think it resembles amateur work. It’s just one of our calling cards.
If you think your business could benefit from one of Xpert’s various managed service offerings, don’t hesitate to get in touch. We’d love to have a conversation about what our team can do to help your business reach its potential.