When you can’t accurately manage and plan for capacity, you end up not knowing how many ports inside a device are active or not, which can cause unnecessary IT expenditures realizing the number of ports are not sufficient and need to buy new equipment, but in actuality it’s not. This also leads to managing your rack space and power as well. How? Your old/unused equipment will stay powered on and connected and will cost your organization energy and rack space.

Why do you need cable management software? Are you tired of guesswork? Costs too high? Keeping track of the equipment, cables and patches is boring and tedious, but as you know: big headaches can arise from a lack of managing cables, such as: slower troubleshooting of issues, due to the inability to trace circuits accurately and stranded connections and ports due to the decommissioning of fiber connectivity (whether partial or total).

If you need cable management software, you’re probably in a hurry to go out and find the best cable management software on the market, buy it, install it, and start reducing your cabling headaches right away…unfortunately, finding the best cable management software isn’t as easy as a Google search or even reviewing reports from analysts. The truth is: there are many solutions on the market. Some cabling solutions are included in DCIM software, some are part of network diagram software, some are stand-alone, some offer fiber /outside plant management in addition to connections inside buildings: some are a combination. There is not a single “best” cable management software on the market; there is, however, the best cable management software for your organization’s needs.

What do you need to document? Where are the problems that you need to solve? Do you need, for example, a cabling solution that includes DCIM? Do you need a cabling solution that’s just for documenting the network? Do you need a cabling solution that lets you document the fiber plant? Do you need a cabling solution that lets you do all three…if you need to?

For some organizations, a solution like netTerrain DCIM may be the best option: netTerrain doesn’t just let you document your connections, but you can also document your entire infrastructure — from the devices in the rooms, cables from port to port, rack to rack, etc. What about documenting your floor space, such as cables from wall jacks to switches, to the telecom room? Do you require documenting your fiber plant? fiber cable coming from the outside into a LIU/patch panel, and the fiber conduits outside the building too?

With network cabling software such as netTerrain, you can trace circuits, decommission cabling, manage capacity, and fix outages faster…and you can also document the fiber plant so that you always know where things are, what’s there, and what you’ll need to fix it.

Patch Panel View in netTerrain

In sum, if you need cable management software, start from what you need to solve. Make a list of the issues you are currently having, and make a list of what you’d like to accomplish with the right solution. That will guide you as you sort through the various options on the market, from DCIM with cabling to stand alone solutions, so that you can truly select the best option on the market for your organization’s needs. If you’d like to test drive or learn more about our cabling management software netTerrain, click here to schedule a time for a brief chat.

About Fred Koh

As a seasoned sales executive, Fred Koh serves as Director of Sales and is responsible for Graphical Networks sales and channel partner program, marketing strategy, and operations.