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74 E L EC TR I C AL CONNEC T I ON

AU T UMN 20 1 7

TAKING AIM AT AIM

A

fter more than two years of

development, the international

standard for Automated

Infrastructure Management

(ISO/IEC

18598 Information technology - Automated

infrastructure management (AIM) systems

- Requirements, data exchange and

applications)

is now officially published.

The growing importance of AIM has

already led the industry’s standards-

defining organisations to recommend

the technology in a variety of standards,

but the ISO/IEC 18598 standard is

the first one strictly dedicated to AIM

to specifically address its varied and

powerful capabilities, from connectivity

management to integration with external

systems and processes.

The standard defines ‘AIM’ as an

“integrated hardware and software

system that automatically detects

the insertion or removal of cords, and

documents the cabling infrastructure

including connected equipment enabling

management of the infrastructure and

data exchange with other systems.”

AIM systems enable personnel to see,

manage and optimise the connected

environment in real time, enhancing the

ability to:

>

Plan and execute changes to the network.

>

Troubleshoot connectivity issues in

real time.

>

Discover and track the location of

connected devices.

>

Manage and monitor capacity and

asset information.

One of the key aspects of ISO/IEC 18598

is the inclusion of a common data exchange

framework to enable interoperability and

integration with external systems.

To illustrate the capabilities of an AIM

system, the ISO/IEC 18598 standard

refers to intrinsic and extrinsic benefits,

as listed below.

Intrinsic benefits are enabled by

functionality within the AIM system,

and include:

>

Accurate and automatic

documentation to replace error-

plagued manual tracking.

>

Change management to help reduce the

cost of moves, adds and changes.

>

Incident management that can decrease

downtime and mean-time-to-resolution.

>

Capacity management, that enables

higher port use and improves planning.

ASSETMANAGEMENT

Extrinsic benefits are enabled with

other systems by the use of data exchange,

and address:

>

IT-related systems such as IP telephony

management, helpdesk support and

information security systems.

>

Building management systems:

including energymanagement, lighting

management, security and access control.

>

Data Centre Infrastructure

Management (DCIM).

>

Configuration Management Database

(CMDB) applications.

The publication of ISO/IEC 18598

acknowledges the growing market

momentum of AIM systems as well as

the critical role AIM systems play in the

planning, administration, and growth

of enterprise networks. The publication

also provides guidance those responsible

for specifying an AIM solution, providing

a common specification that will enable

broader market adoption of AIM in

buildings and data centres.

For more information on AIM

technology and the ISO/IEC 18598

standards, download and read

CommScope’s recently released white

paper:

The business benefits of automated

infrastructure management in connected

and efficient buildings

.

> CommScope

www.commscope.com

AFTER MUCH DELIBERATION,

THE ISO/IEC AUTOMATED

INFRASTRUCTURE MANAGEMENT

STANDARD HAS BEEN RATIFIED.

MATIASPELUFFO

FROM

COMMSCOPE REPORTS.

STANDARDS UPDATE

BY

MATIAS

PELUFFO