Using new Diagramming Tools For Advanced networking Technologies.

Integrators are forced to spend the bulk of their time trying to keep up with customer demands for bigger, better, and faster networks. While new networking equipment and services have become more varied and sophisticated, network design, implementation, and management have become extremely complex. To date, integrators have relied on a combination of piecemeal diagramming tools, Web-based research and configuration tools, and general-purpose applications such as Excel to create design proposals for their clients, While engineers and designers using these conventional tools try to manage the dizzying pace of network technology, the tools themselves tend to lag behind.

Most integrators use multipurpose drawing tools to establish a snapshot of the network design in order to close the deal, though afterwards, neither the customer nor integrator have the time to keep it current. Time also becomes an issue when network evolution and future changes require as much time as the original implementation. With little help from classic network management tools used to maintain the existing network, users are on their own convincing non-technical members of the organization responsible for approving the funds necessary for critical projects.

With most tools providing only basic diagramming, there is no method of ensuring that the network will actually work as designed. This translates into hours spent researching the best devices to include in the proposal, plus the hours spent logged-on to each vendor's Web site, understanding configuration guidelines and properly configuring each device. As a result of the time spent on administrative tasks, the sales cycle remains lengthy. Time spent with clients is substantially reduced, severely constraining an integrator's ability to capitalize on the current networking boom.

INTEGRATED DIAGRAMMING APPROACH

These issues have prompted integrators to seek out a new, more integrated approach that can streamline the network design process. This new approach parallels the logical processes integrators follow when designing networks. It supports every phase of the sales cycle from initial needs assessment to actual deployment. In addition, this new option gives integrators the chance to bypass inefficient and prolonged information gathering, accelerate the sales cycle, and maximize the integrator's engineering expertise.

The integrated approach to network design begins with the task of understanding the customer's needs and their current network environment. A fast, accurate audit of what infrastructure and devices are in place would be the ideal starting point of a network design. Unfortunately, many customers may resist exposing the network to an outsider. However, most would accept help documenting their network asset, a task many network professionals can't afford to spend time on. Providing this billable service with a network discovery tool not only meets a critical customer need, but also opens the door for an integrator to identify potential improvements that can be made to the network.

Using conceptual design features like network layout, product selection, and configuration prototyping, an integrator can create an initial design quickly and pitch the customer immediately. This results in a deeper engagement than originally requested by the customer This service can then be bundled as part of a complete design and implementation, presenting an attractive package for the customer.

CONFIGURATION AND LINK VALIDATION

A fundamental component absent in standard drawing and diagramming tools, but critical to the implementation phase, is a configuration and link validation tool. With this capability, a conceptual design is converted into an actual proposal, essential for a successful network deployment. By enabling the integrator to configure devices accurately, support the desired protocols, and perform design integrity analysis with just one tool, they are able to offer guarantees to customers that were simply not possible before. At the same time, the entire design process is shortened.

"A tool that can provide a sophisticated design element that includes validation for accurately configuring devices gives integrators a unique advantage by enabling them to work out any bugs during the design phase itself," says Irwin Lazar, a former systems integrator and analyst with NetReference. "This in turn greatly reduces the time and repetition spent jumping between costly implementation and the drawing board."

In order to increase the likelihood of proposal acceptance, an electronic, Web-enabled diagram with as-built views of the required devices should be as simple to create as pressing a button. The proposal is enhanced with a complete Bill of Materials, giving customers an estimated cost for the proposal.

"Integrators can take advantage of comprehensive design tools to more quickly create complete customer proposals, including network drawings, and bill-of-materials," explained Lazar. "These types of tools allow integrators to shorten the sales cycle and will provide them with a competitive advantage over those firms that are still preparing their proposals manually."

As more than just a diagramming tool, an integrated network documentation and design tool should be built on a network model in order for it to be truly useful to integrator engineers. Critical to that network model is a comprehensive library of real-world network device information, centralized on a laptop PC. With details like configuration guidelines, product specs, and functional parameters updated periodically through a network information portal on the Web, integrators are given a single-source tool that can manage the overwhelming number of new technologies introduced into the market daily.

As the time spent on administrative tasks is minimized, the overall design process becomes more efficient. This allows integrators to maximize their engineering expertise and offer their customers a higher level of service. In the end, this translates into greater job satisfaction for the integrator and enhanced customer satisfaction.

A MORE COMPREHENSIVE DESIGN MODULE:

* Understands a customer's actual environment before embarking on a design and leads to a quicker, more effective network solution.

* Boosts productivity and efficiency by reducing hours spent researching and enables integrators to offer customers a speedier network design and implementation process.

* Ensures that all devices are properly configured and linked together, giving customers a guarantee that the design will work while accelerating the ordering phase and reducing the risk of costly post-deployment hassles.

* Provides a professional proposal that can be delivered in hardcopy format or electronically in HTML, allowing multiple views of configured devices and product specs and increasing the likelihood of proposal acceptance.

* Optimizes the engineering expertise and job satisfaction of the integrator by reducing time-intensive administrative tasks.

* Accommodates all phases of network design by offering function-specific modules, allowing integrators to choose their level of investment.

Moving from simple diagramming to an integrated design toolkit creates a "win-win" situation for both integrators and their customers. Key benefits such as increased productivity, shorter sales cycles, enhanced job satisfaction, and maximization of core competencies only stands to streamline the network design process. Simultaneously, the ability to document a customer's network asset and offer guarantees for the design boosts customer confidence.

Integrators are given a competitive advantage by being able to offer their customers shorter and more accurate design and implementation cycles. This results in more time for the integrator to spend developing sales leads, completing other projects, and, ultimately, bringing in more revenue.

Gaetano Squicciarini is vice president of marketing at NetFormx (Saratoga, CA).