TE Connectivity has created the Infrastructure Configuration Manager (ICM) mobile app for tighter control of customers’ physical networks. The ICM mobile app is a tool for use with an active ICM software system, linking to the ICM server to co-ordinate planned work orders and provide direct technician messaging and responses.

ICM is the software that powers TE’s managed connectivity solutions, designed to give network operators a higher level of visibility into their physical network. ICM is a real-time, fully automated physical layer documentation system and a complete application for managing work orders, network topology, level 2 discovery, reporting and alarms.

According to a Gartner Group study, 59% of unplanned network downtime occurs in the physical layer and 28% of data centre outages are caused by human error by mistakenly making changes in the physical layer. TE’s managed connectivity platforms – ICM software and Quareo connection point identification (CPID) technology – were engineered expressly for monitoring and managing the physical layer of network infrastructure. The ICM mobile app takes this industry-leading technology to the next level.

“ICM mobile is a next-generation tool for network infrastructure management,” says ICM product manager within TE’s Enterprise Networks business unit Gene Malone.

“Network managers have come to understand how important the physical layer is to the overall reliability and performance of their networks, and realise that there is little visibility into this layer. The ICM mobile app is a device-based tool that can provide an instant, real-time view of the network and render it transparent.”

The ICM mobile app, in conjunction with an active ICM system, provides management, details and control of the Information Transport System (ITS). The app features:

Work order selection listing
Work order synchronisation
Work order/LED activation controls
Work order step selector/manager
Auto-detect completion indicators
Manual completion indicators
Response attachment handling
Incident response logging

“The key differentiator for the TE managed connectivity offering is the high level of detailed information provided by the CPID technology harnessed through the intuitive software app,”says ICM software solutions at TE Enterprise Network senior development manager Kevin Townend.

“TE is the world leader in fiber connectivity. Creating the ICM mobile app extends our commitment to simplifying network infrastructure management for our customers.”

The mobile app is now available, free for a limited time, on iTunes.