Network Design & Documentation in the Digital Age

8th SEEITA – 7th SEE ICT Forum

Meeting

& 7th MASIT Open Days Conference

Network Design &

Documentation

in the Digital AgePresented by:

Diarmuid Kelly, Director Sales International

AND Solution GmbH

October 2010

Network Design & Documentation in the Digital Age

2

3

Documentation approaches

1

Back bone of network operation & maintenance

Business fundamentals

Contents

CAPEXOPEX

Network design & documentation

Network Design & Documentation in the Digital Age

Fundamental Requirements

Quality Build

Quality Design

Quality Maintenance

A solid basis for a solid business

Get it right first time

Plan correctly

− Know what you want to build

− Know the components required

− Know the effort & resources required

Build to plan

− Bin the trial & error approach

− Cut out unnecessary site visits, a.k.a. “truck rolls”

− You get what you expect

Result:

Improved productivity & efficiency

Reduced expenditure, increased profits

Network Design & Documentation in the Digital Age

And what is the key?

A network design documentation software solution

for the complete network life cycle

Network design & build

Operations

Maintenance

Network Design & Documentation in the Digital Age

What’s it going to cost?

There are two costs to consider:

1. Investment costs

How much will the software put you back?

2. Operational costs

What will the software cost to actually use?

Network Design & Documentation in the Digital Age

Investment costs

Software licenses

Software maintenance

Is the software a bolt-on?

− Platform costs & updates?

Customization

− How many consultants?

− Time to deliver?

IT environment

− Hardware, operating system & database

Integration with business/operation systems

− Standard interfaces available (SOAP, WMS, etc.)?

Network Design & Documentation in the Digital Age

Operational costs

How efficient is the software for network design?

− Is it the right tool for the job?

− Single solution or various modules?

− In-house network design included?

− Integrated engineering or do you need external solutions

How efficient is the software for amending & updating?

How much training will be required?

− Days? Weeks?

How intuitive?

− Does the software require specialist users?

− Is the software worker bee friendly?

Network Design & Documentation in the Digital Age

Network Design & Documentation in the Digital Age

2

3

Documentation approaches

1

Back bone of network operation & maintenance

Business fundamentals

Contents

Design & documentation

Design network section with spreadsheet application

e.g. Excel, Lode Data

Using design results sketch network on paper

Draft network via CAD tool

e.g. AutoCAD, Visio

After build completion redraw in separate GIS (documentation)

Network Design & Documentation in the Digital Age

Traditional approach

Design & documentation

Network Design & Documentation in the Digital Age

NetworkEngineering

DTH

Fibre

Coax

AutoCAD

Bill of

Network calculations

Bil

Bill of material

Network draft

Build network

Update GIS

Further network changes?

Excel / Lode Data

The traditional way

yes

Traditional design & documentation

Redundant tasks

− Wasted manpower

− Unnecessary costs

Redundant data

− Data divergence risks

− Liable to transcription errors

− Version management issues

Inefficient workflow

− Sequential activities

− Difficult to encourage inter-communication

Lack of integration

− Island solutions

Network Design & Documentation in the Digital Age

The drawbacks

Traditional design & documentation

Bloated manpower

Possible issues regarding network performance & reliability

Profit affected by unnecessary expenditure

− CAPEX

− OPEX

Negative influence on

− Time to market

− ROI

Network Design & Documentation in the Digital Age

What are the consequences?

What are today’s requirements?

Network Design & Documentation in the Digital Age

Solution for the complete network life cycle

Design (according to standards)

Verification & approval

Generate BOM

Construction support

Verification & acceptance

Design Documentation

Applies to:

New builds

Upgrades

Extensions

Repairs & maintenance

Supporting operation &

maintenance

Network operation

− Interface to monitoring systems & visualization of alarms

− Interface to business systems, e.g. CRM

− Interface to map and address management systems

Network maintenance

− Detailed information when on-site

(components, addresses, customers)

− Interfaces to test equipment

− Red lining facilities

Network Design & Documentation in the Digital Age

Design & documentation

Network Design & Documentation in the Digital Age

Build / modify

network

Further

network

changes

?

... the modern approach

Design network changes

yesNetwork

Documentatio

n

Verify design

Generate BOM

Verify build

Merge to documentation

CRM

NMS

Your documentation system

Company-wide visibility

− Easy access to data encourages participation

Empowers staff with relevant information

Enables staff to reach strategic decisions

Self-policing

− Prioritization

− Synchronization

− Work discipline

Well defined roles for all

Network Design & Documentation in the Digital Age

Your dynamic knowledge base

Network Design & Documentation in the Digital Age

2

3

Documentation approaches

1

Back bone of network operation & maintenance

Business fundamentals

Contents

Modelling the network

Accurate network simulation

− COAX

- Signal levels for complete spectrum

- Powering

- Distortions

− Fibre

- Optical budgets

Single network approach

− End-to-end HFC, RFoG, FTTx networks

− Allows signal tracing through network

Network Design & Documentation in the Digital Age

Measurement and simulation

Simulation is what you expect

Measurement is what you have

Compare simulation with measurements

− Verify builds, upgrades & modifications before deployment

− Maintenance support: locate problems through mismatches

Network Design & Documentation in the Digital Age

Trust is good, control is better

Network monitoring benefits

Reduce maintenance costs

− Detect faults ASAP

− Resolve network faults ASAP

Maintaining reliable multimedia networks

− Comparison with incumbent telcos

− Keeping customers online, keeping customers

Network Design & Documentation in the Digital Age

Documentation & monitoring

Interface to network monitoring systems (NMS)

− Common cause failure trace

− Transponder monitoring

− Statistical analysis monitoring

− Others

Visualise alarms in network documentation

− Alarms generated by NMS

− Alarms manually generated by CRM

Alarm hotspots

− Geographical overview of current alarms

Network Design & Documentation in the Digital Age

Electronic red lining

Main goals

− Cut-out “paper traffic”

− Improve efficiency

− Reduce operational costs

Report and audit functions

− Components

− Cable and trench routes

Easy-to-learn, easy-to-use

− Applications for smartphones, PDAs & notebooks

− 15 minutes learning curve

Network Design & Documentation in the Digital Age

Workflow for Documenter

Hotspot overview of e-notes

Single click to process

− Technician name & contact details

− E-note data

Double click

− Opens network documentation

Update documentation

Network Design & Documentation in the Digital Age

Network Design & Documentation in the Digital Age

Thank you

for your attention

Diarmuid Kelly

AND Solution GmbH

www.and-solution.com

Network Design & Documentation in the Digital Age

Do you want

the perfect solution?

Talk to me !

Diarmuid Kelly

dkelly@and-solution.com

Tel. +49 (89) 743533-901

Mobile: + 49 172 6070200