In November 2013 the University of Liverpool had identified the need to upgrade it’s network infrastructure within the Life and Bio Science Buildings due to the condition of the existing infrastructure.
The pictures below illustrate the condition of the existing infrastructure.
The University’s IT team approached NIS Ltd to provide a quotation to carry out all required works as a result of the exceptionally high quality installations undertaken at various locations throughout the University, including data and wireless installations within the Life and Bio Science Buildings. Our response was immediate and Project Director, David Wainwright, swiftly attended site to carry out a full survey of all requirements.
As a result of the survey, we identified the labour and material requirements in order to ensure all cabinets were laid out to the Universities current standard cabling specifications. As part of this installation project NIS Ltd engineers were to relocate all voice, fibre and data patch panels in conjunction with the Standard Rack Layout drawing and ensure all network cabinet rooms are left in a clean environment. The conclusion of the project would ensure all network cabinets were fully laid out to the Universities specifications, with all equipment patched in and labelled neatly and correctly. The following details the full works that were to be undertaken per cabinet;
1. NIS Ltd are to supply labour and materials to relocate customer’s existing voice panels to the U positions identified upon the Standard Rack Layout provided within customer’s existing cabinet A1 within the Bio Science Building and neatly re-patch all ports.
2. NIS Ltd are to supply labour and materials to relocate customer’s existing data patch panels to the U positions identified upon the Standard Rack Layout provided within customer’s existing cabinet A1 within the Bio Science Building and neatly re-patch all ports.
3. NIS Ltd are to supply labour and materials to remove customer’s existing network switches and install customer’s new free issue network switches to the U positions identified upon the Standard Rack Layout provided within customer’s existing cabinet A1 within the Bio Science Building and neatly re-patch all ports.
4. NIS Ltd are to supply labour and materials to relocate customer’s existing fibre patch panels to the U positions identified upon the Standard Rack Layout provided within customer’s existing cabinet A1 within the Bio Science Building and neatly re-patch all ports.
5. NIS Ltd are to supply labour to fully clean the cabinet room, inclusive of hoovering, removal of all waste materials and tidying all work areas to ensure the cabinet room is left in a clean environment.
A quotation for the full project works was soon sent to the University and was quickly approved. Following the authorisation process, a timetable had been set by the University for all works to be completed week commencing 16th December 2013, taking advantage of the University’s shut down period. As a direct result of this timescale request, we had again been challenged to provide a logistical solution. Fully understanding the needs of the customer is a characteristic that has always been attributed to this company and as such all three Project Directors held a meeting led by the assigned Project Director, David Wainwright, to allocate the required resource.
We soon proposed to assign 10 engineers to undertake simultaneous cabinet installations to ensure all works required were completed prior to the end of the week. This proposal was discussed with and approved by the University.
The installation was a major success, carried out to exceptionally high standards expected by the University and delivered by NIS Ltd at all times. During the installation, there had been zero disruption caused to the University’s services and the project gained recognition from all University staff involved. Prior to handover, we provided laminated cabinet layouts and new patch panel labels fully detailing all newly installed equipment for each cabinet ensuring every cabinet was upgraded to the University’s specifications and clearly identified all associated kit.
We could sit here all day and talk about how well the installation went, but sometimes it is better just to show you!! The two videos below fully illustrate the efforts employed by all staff involved;
neatly looming incoming cables
reinstalling kit as a management/copper panel/switch/copper panel configuration
patching in all newly installed kit, utilising hand made 0.25m patch leads
NIS Ltd would like to thank the University for the opportunities presented to us to showcase our qualities and look forward to undertaking further cabinet upgrades and other installation works already in the pipeline.