Cost-Conscious Rack and Cable Management Options Vs. The “New Everyday” Install

When it comes to racks and cable management, it seems like there’s always been a de facto line between basic, more or less bare-bones options aimed at typical, day-to-day contractor needs and feature rich premium solutions for higher-end “project work”. And, as any cabling pro can attest, crossing the line into premium solutions usually means a hefty price increase. That may not have been so much of an issue in the good old days, when those everyday jobs rarely required anything more than bare-bones racks and cable managers; but as technology advances, those routine small and medium installs start to feel far less routine.

With technologies like IP-based A/V, surveillance, access control, WiFi, and other intelligent building systems not only communicating through the IT cabling infrastructure, but being powered by it through PoE, the density and complexity of the network can quickly outgrow the capabilities of contractor-priced, basic rack and cable management options. Toss in larger-diameter category 6A cables, and installers are often forced to either live with the limitations of the basic solutions and figure out a way to shoehorn 10lbs of, umm . . . “network infrastructure” into a 5lb bag, or upgrade to more expensive premium options. To make a long story short (or at least shorter), the market was missing a complete rack and cable management solution that could meet “value-level” price points for day-to-day work, and offer the enhanced features needed to support the increasing demands of those everyday jobs . . .

(Now, if I was going for the full-on marketing hard-sell here, I could follow that last sentence up with something like “. . . UNTIL NOW” – but since you’re probably as sick of hearing that kind of thing as I am, I’ll just get to the point.).

Siemon just launched a new Value Vertical Cable Manager (VVCM) system. I'll cover its features in a second, but I want to start with what this launch means from a system standpoint. Combined with Siemon’s 2-Post Value Rack and RouteIT Horizontal Cable Managers, the VVCM completes a comprehensive, unified rack and cable management family that is both cost-competitive vs. the common, stripped-down options, and packed with features typically found only on premium systems. To put it another way, this value-priced system is designed to simplify the deployment and long-term management of the “new everyday” install: efficiently handling high-density patching and backbone cable routing with capacity for future scalability, providing equipment mounting flexibility for a wide range of applications, supporting space-saving power distribution and cord management options – everything you expect from the premium-level systems, but without the premium price tag.

Back to the new Value Vertical Cable Manager. Rather than make you read about all of its cool contractor-focused features and innovations, we’ve created a brief video for you. (Frankly, the video only takes a couple of minutes, and covers more detail than I could manage in 4 or 5 more pages worth of writing). Check it out on the Siemon eCatalog: https://ecatalog.siemon.com/#/en/Racks-and-Cable-Mgmt/Cable-Management/Value-Vertical-Cable-Managers 

Just in case you can’t spare a second to watch the video now, I’ll give you a Value Vertical Cable Manager teaser:

• It ships small and light, so it is easier handle in the warehouse, on the truck, and at the jobsite. (No more lugging heavy boxes around or cramming huge 7-ft boxes in elevators.
• It only takes 5 minutes to install. Other than bolting it to the rack, assembly is tool-less
• It has REAL DOORS. No more dealing with those snap-on covers. You know: the ones you can never seem to get back in place without a 5-minute wrestling match and a few mangled fingers (both your fingers and the cable manager fingers). The VVCM has real, spring-loaded latches that you can operate with one finger.
• There’s tons more to talk about on the eCatalog: https://ecatalog.siemon.com/#/en/Racks-and-Cable-Mgmt/Cable-Management/Value-Vertical-Cable-Managers 

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