Three sure-fire ways to sabotage your next wireless deployment
Any major IT project comes with risks – but often, the greatest issues end up being self-inflicted ones. Wireless infrastructure deployments are no exception. Even the best access points, switches, and vendor support can’t undo the effects of inadequate planning or subpar decision-making. Though a little common-sense just might.
Here are three ways to guarantee a crisis in your next wireless infrastructure installation or refresh – all based on true stories from the Affinity Blue team’s experience.
1. Always choose the cheapest option
The adage that “you get what you pay for” still holds true. Simon Hayward, Affinity Blue’s Managing Director, says he constantly sees companies opt for contractors who charge much cheaper than the norm or even take a DIY approach to their own installations despite lacking the in-house IT skills to do so. The results are inevitably a case of dissatisfaction guaranteed.
“In one instance, we saw a customer select wireless cabling contractors who were charging only half of the market rate, without stopping to wonder why they were pricing so low,” Hayward recalls. “It turns out the contractors had little to no idea how to cable an enterprise wireless network: they’d never dealt with a configuration that large and had barely even handled fiber optic cables before.” The result: a relatively straightforward installation ended up being indefinitely delayed due to numerous on-site cabling errors.
“You may save substantial money upfront with unqualified operators, but you’ll end up paying far more in the long run,” cautions Hayward, “not just in the costs of undoing their mistakes but the opportunities lost while your new network gets continually delayed.”
A better way: Stick with wireless solutions partners with a proven track record of looking after their customers. “Word of mouth and past experience are worth investing in, as is a shared set of values when it comes to technology and business,” says Hayward.
2. Upend your technology partner’s process.
Standard operating procedures and workflows exist for a reason: to ensure predictable network results that meet customers’ and end-users’ needs. Attempting to alter those processes midway – whether by suddenly deciding to change network specifications or introduce new requirements – inevitably puts outcomes at risk.
“If you tamper with your specifications, you’re also tampering with your results,” Hayward says. “You want to lock down your wireless game plan before even ordering the first set of access points, or you’re setting yourself up for complications.”
Hayward recalls one instance where a customer insisted on preparing two alternate specifications for their wireless deployment “because they couldn’t make up their mind internally on some relatively small details.” After the customer finalized their choice, Affinity Blue and its partners procured and prepared to install the gear – only to discover that the customer had briefed its wiring contractors on the other configuration by mistake.
“Fortunately, we were able to divert early-arrival stock from other parts of the project to make up the shortfall in access points and routers,” Hayward says, “but the confusion and incorrect wiring ended up setting the project back by at least a year.”
A better way: Decide on the final wireless solution with all partners, and capture every detail in writing and diagrams to ensure consistency and clarity when doing the work.
3. Assign a project manager who doesn’t care about the outcome.
The choice of project manager can make or break any wireless deployment, especially more complex ones involving multiple solutions providers and unpredictable logistics. Employing project managers who both lack experience and buy-in to the project’s eventual success is all but sure to end badly.
“We’ve seen project managers get promoted because of their cost-cutting abilities (see Point 1), while their IT teams had to pick up the pieces of substandard work and endemic delays to project delivery,” says Hayward. “In others, they’ve left the company and years later IT has discovered all sorts of corner-cutting that compromises future network quality.
“If a project manager is only in it for their own career benefit, they’re likely to leave the situation worse off than when they found it.”
A better way: Apart from employing rigorous hiring practices, consider ways to align project managers’ interests with long-term project KPIs, like user experience or network durability. Project managers with at least some technical background are also more likely – though not always guaranteed – to better grasp nuances and consequences in network deployment.
Affinity Blue offers end-to-end wireless solutions from single small-business sites to national and regional deployments – all the way from design to cabling, installation, and maintenance. Drop us a message to find out more.