How to close the gaps between plan and as-built in constructing fiber networks and running them leaner and more profitably.
With the sizable investments that most fiber network construction projects require, ensuring that they can generate a healthy ROI is imperative. But if you thought the cost of a network is all in the construction, consider for a moment the expense of maintaining that network and keeping it commercially viable over the decades that it needs to operate profitably.
Add to the equation a dose of uncertainty about the as-built status of the network and extrapolate the resulting inefficiencies along its entire economic lifetime, and the total cost becomes staggeringly high. Profitability targets suddenly dissolve under the weight of exponential operating costs.
The number one cause of network status uncertainty? Inadequate field documentation.
The Solution: Clarity
The simplest solution for avoiding that uncertainty is ensuring clarity right from the start. If you can accurately capture network data as it happens, you can prevent costly corrections later. Handovers go smoothly when field documentation is well structured. Post-handover, the clarity allows you to operate leaner and more efficiently.
A perfect synchronisation of what happens in the field with what gets documented in your network asset management system is crucial for closing the gaps that traditionally exist between the construction and management phases. Detailed and up-to-date accuracy in the as-built status can prevent expensive mistakes during the construction phase as well as later maintenance, incident response, upgrades and expansions.
The Issue: Separate Worlds
What happens in the field can be very different from what was imagined in the office. The physical as-built network is seldom an exact copy of the initial network designs and maintenance changes don’t always go precisely to plan. If your data is based on the plan instead of the reality, operating the network at optimal efficiency is simply not possible.
The differences are not only a question of unexpected circumstances on site such as unmapped obstacles and evolving street addresses. Countless things go wrong with the field documentation itself: quantity mismatches, incomplete data, unreliable geographic data, disputes with contractors, and file approval delays, just to name a few.
Bringing standardization to the workflows and how they are documented is a great place to start closing the gaps. Automated processes that better structure the field documentation also make your contractor’s job easier with clear procedures and data requirements.
The Friction: Transitional Gaps
The gaps between what network owners intended and what field contractors interpreted, between what happens in the field and what the system says, between the original design and the as-built reality – all of these create friction in fiber network projects.
Those gaps not only complicate the transitional handover moments, but the inaccuracies and outdated information also create operational inefficiencies that become significant cost-drivers for the decades that follow.
The Answer: A System that Closes the Gaps
The right registration system can effectively reduce the gaps between what happens in the field and what is recorded in the data. The ideal system is built to keep the digital representation up to date during the entire economic lifetime of the network, and regardless of who is performing which activities.
From the design to the build to the operation and maintenance, having the right system for your network can provide every engineer and every stakeholder with a single, accurate source of truth.
To close the gaps, your network asset management system should be an exact digital representation of your physical network, with detailed registration of every cable and every component. Ideally, it should also include convenient and reliable digital twinning capabilities within the software.
Having an accurate digital representation lets you find and resolve issues faster, with fewer truck rolls or costly mistakes. As a digital twin, it’s also a pivotal tool for efficient routing, for maintenance scenarios, and for reliable calculations of expansion plans.
The Advantage: Network Orchestration
The bigger the fiber network project, the more potential there is for disjointed processes, inconsistent information and expensive mistakes. Without standardized processes and clear requirements, handovers get delayed and errors find their way into the data.
A system that supports a more orchestrated process reduces the risks of miscommunication, inconsistent data, and delayed construction tracking. From the design to the operational management, such a system is the key to closing the gap between plan and reality in your network data.
The benefits of a system that helps you orchestrate your network include:
- Facilitated collaboration between stakeholders for more control and the ability to steer the project, regardless of which phase it is in
- Engineers able upload data from the field, with no need for duplicate data entry in the back office
- Standardized data requirements that reduce disputes with contractors and other stakeholders, thereby significantly simplifying handovers
- Reliable and up-to-date network status information for faster response times and better-informed decision-making.
The greatest benefit of an orchestrated fiber network project? Hands down, it is the single, consistently up-to-date reality that it provides for all stakeholders.
Every partner, contractor and field engineer is always on the same page with continuous access to the same reliable source of truth.
The same reliable source of truth with zero gaps.
