Ciena’s Phil Corey details four key steps to building a solid foundation for successful network equipment deployment.

Building a solid foundation drives the successful deployment of new network equipment. Rely on experts who leverage customizable tools and proven processes to ensure accuracy, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness to every project. Skipping a key step can lead to delays in gaining from the benefits along with reduced performance of new equipment and higher costs. By preparing this foundation, you can expect an accelerated deployment which maximizes network performance and reduces risk.

To build this foundation, there are logical steps to follow and services you can leverage to ensure you are successful. Begin by making sure your fiber plant is ready with Fiber Characterization. Next, work with experts who clarify your business requirements and combine them with the data from the fiber characterization to develop and finalize a Solution Design that meets your needs. After that, save operational cost and time with Staging in Factory to ensure your equipment is 100% ready-to-go out of the box. And most importantly, rely on a trusted ally for your network deployment so you can have confidence that your deployment is done efficiently with minimal disruptions to your business operations and ensuring maximum network performance. Let’s dive deeper into the importance and benefits of each of these steps below

1. Fiber Characterization—reduce costly delays and ensure peak performance by assessing fiber health.

Your fiber plant faces constant challenges from maintenance, restoration, weather, and time-related changes. Additionally, the quality of installed fiber varies greatly, creating a significant impact on network performance and operational costs. Characterizing your fiber prior to deployment helps you avoid last-minute fiber issues that can delay or impede your deployment.

There are two key components to fiber characterization testing:

Physical performance tests help pinpoint specific areas where fiber issues need to be fixed, from patches, splices, connectors, broken fiber, etc., ensuring better fiber performance. Tests include Bi-directional Optical Time Domain Reflectometry (OTDR) scan, Insertion Loss Measurements (ILM), and Optical Return Loss (ORL) measurements.

Optical dispersion, Polarization Mode Dispersion (PMD), and Chromatic Dispersion (CD) tests gather data on dispersion to ensure the performance and optical design of the photonic network at deployment and into the future.

Testing the physical capabilities and dispersion characteristics of fiber prior to network design and deployment ensures optimal network performance and reduces installation risk.

2. Solution Design—rely on experts who have earned the trust of the world’s largest network providers to develop an optimized design to fit your needs.

Solution design starts with gathering business and technical requirements. These requirements are taken into account when making technology recommendations. The design includes both hardware and software recommendations for a network-wide plan, along with detailed design documentation. Rely on a partner with expertise in building the most adaptive, customer-centric networks in the world to ensure your network design is focused on accuracy, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness.

3. Staging in Factory—accelerate your network deployment with equipment 'ready to go' out of the box.

Getting equipment staged prior to shipping not only validates your design but also saves you time and operational expense. Staging in factory enforces engineering accuracy upstream and quality control for the order and delivery. All components are pre-installed in shelves or racks including circuit packs, mechanicals, fibers, cables, and any third-party integration. The equipment is then powered up and software is upgraded and commissioned. Customization is available and includes asset tagging and labeling.

Shipping equipment already racked helps reduce packaging, waste disposal and logistic costs. Staged equipment requires less warehouse space and reduces time onsite. When equipment arrives, it is ready to go out of the box reducing delays in installation.

4. Deployment—partner with a trusted ally to deploy your network to ensure maximum performance, reduced maintenance windows, and lower risk.

All deployments start with a site survey to confirm record accuracy and ensure all necessary infrastructure elements are in place prior to equipment arrival. This includes hardware verification, power compatibility checks and mapping of racks with cabling for the planned configuration.

Once the site is ready, the equipment is quickly deployed. The next step is turn up and testing to integrate new equipment into your network including validating software and verifying transmission signals.

Working closely with a reliable and experienced network deployment team allows you to leverage their expertise to efficiently install and configure your network equipment, minimizing disruptions to your operations. The whole process is overseen by certified project managers, keeping you on schedule and on budget.

Ciena Services as your trusted partner

At Ciena, we understand the importance of building a solid foundation before deploying new network equipment. Prioritizing pre-deployment preparation ensures you not only maximize the performance of your next-generation network equipment but accelerates your deployment while minimizing risk. These steps enable your organization to leverage the full potential of your network infrastructure, driving efficiency and innovation. Ciena Services has a proven track record in delivering innovative networking solutions and services, and we are here to support you in achieving your network goals.