INTELLIGENT CABLING
Normally a consultant is not unreasonably
going to want to pay for this work and it
introduces a dilemma for consulting firms. If
they quote including the AIM scoping work,
they are going to look more expensive than
their competing peers.
This situation leads to the cabling tender
document that I am sure we have all seen
where the final line says something like,
could you quote for an AIM system whilst
you are at it. No two-people involved in
the process have the same understanding
of what that means. The end user has
visions of something all-encompassing
whilst the integrator will understandably
only be looking to deliver what they have
been paid to deliver and we are back to our
expectation gap.
The lack of physical interoperability also
goes some way to account for the reluctance
of IT consultants to specify AIM, as they have
an innate dislike of locking an end user into a
single vendor solution.
Something clearly needed to be done to
break down these barriers and at various
meetings it was decided to write standards
addressing AIM. Initially the work centred
around improving the Explanatory Annexe
in the ISO, IEC 14763-2, Cabling System
Administration standard. This work is being
included in an amendment of the standard
with the annexures now containing a
specification of the minimum requirements
of an AIM system. This work has also been
completed in EN 50174-1.
This is a huge step forward as it allows
an end user or consultant to request a quote
for an AIM system in accordance with these
annexures, which levels the playing field.
Whilst this represents a significant
improvement in the situation it does not
really go far enough and ISO, IEC realised
that a new standard was required.
During the Geneva and Ixtapa ISO,
IEC meetings, work commenced on ISO,
IEC 18598 automated infrastructure
management requirements, data exchange
and applications. This new AIM standard
contains in addition to the usual scope,
Forward-thinking
experts view the
evolution of cabling
for building services
and Internet of Things
as critical trigger for
AIM to move into other
business
definitions and abbreviations, three
important sections:
• Clause 5 details requirements and
recommendations for standard AIM
system
• Clause 6 details applications and benefits
of stand-alone AIM systems and potential
benefits of AIM systems when connected to
other management systems
• Clause 7 addresses the interfaces necessary
to allow information exchange with other
systems
Clause 5 defines an AIM system as
comprising two functional elements,
hardware to detect patch cords and software
that collects and stores the resulting
connection information. The ability to
relate information from other sources and
to cabling connectivity information is also
a requirement, as is the ability to make this
information available to authorised users or
to other systems.
Contents of Clause 5 include:
• patch cord detection
• tracking end device location
• work flow management
• text and label generation
• monitoring and management
• integration of CAD floor plans, racks,
layouts
Clause 6 is unusual for an ISO, IEC
standard in that it deliberately contains no
requirements and is entirely tutorial, which is
usually to be avoided. It is however the clause
that provides the why for AIM and links the
requirements of Clause 5 to applications and
benefits and discusses aspects such as:
• managing and utilising assets
• automatic infrastructure documentation
and monitoring
• event management and alerting
• deployment of new services
• process management
• infrastructure security management
• discovery and configuration of attached
equipment
Clause 7 is currently the subject of most of
the developments and discussions, with
the previous two clauses being regarded as
mature.
ISO, IEC 18598 is seen as a vital document
to break down the barriers to AIM adoption
particularly as AIM systems will have an
increasingly important role in infrastructure
management.
Some forward-thinking experts view the
evolution of cabling for building services and
the Internet of Things as the critical trigger
for AIM to move into other business sectors.
Osama Abed is Technical Manager for Gulf,
Middle East, East, South Africa at Nexans
Cabling Solutions
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