FEATURE COPPPER CABLING
Rebranding to Meet the Market Of Facelifts and Futures We spoke to Andrew Percival, Managing Director, Mayflex
NETCOMMS.EUROPE: What changes have you noticed since the Excel brand came to market?
Mayflex distributes a wide range of products under the banner of Converged IP Solutions. It also markets its own products under the brand name Excel, which is now undergoing a major facelift. We found out more about the strategy behind this change, and Mayflex’s outlook on the industry in general.
ANDREWPERCIVAL: As the standards have become more defined, we have seen a shift in buyer behaviour. When people are looking to purchase structured cabling, they will make their choice based on a standard and a specification rather than a brand name. The end-user and specifier part of the market has become more familiar with the standards, so they are now able to buy to defined standards rather than relying on brand names. This actually opens up more choice for the buyer.
NE: Tell us about your rebranding strategy.
AP: Over the last few years, the Excel brand has evolved considerably in terms of the product breadth, product form and the number of options that we offer. Because of that, we’ve seen a greater level of involvement in larger projects, and more end user/consultant- led opportunities. We didn’t feel that our look had evolved along with our offering, so we developed a modern, refreshed logo and a new strapline, ‘Without compromise.’ We felt that our previous strapline,
‘Excellence in Networking’ wasn’t direct enough to underline what we set out to deliver to our customers. ‘Without compromise’ is a statement of intent and a description of what we do with our products and services.
NE: Are you primarily aiming your new message at end users or integrators?
AP: If I had to come down on one side, I would say the message is aimed at specifiers and end users, whether consultants, MNE contractors or IT managers. We want to emphasise that we’re not compromising anywhere around the quality of the product and the service that supports it. We were one of the first major players in the market to bring products across from the Far East into the structured cabling market. This has perhaps been looked down upon by certain competitors. We feel that’s not really doing justice to the quality of some of the products which
24 NETCOMMS europe Volume II, Issue 1 2011
come out of that part of the world. Our competitive price structure is also sometimes used to question what the customer is getting for their money. I find it quite bizarre that there is a downward pressure on budgets yet if a product offers a way to meet that downward pressure, questions are asked about its quality or reliability.
NE: What do you hope will be the result of all this strategy?
AP: We have an 11% market share at the moment, but my ambition with the brand is to get that to 15% over the next two years. If you consider that the market is not growing in volume, this means taking that from the competition. It’s an aggressive period at the moment, economically and commercially but opportunities for growth are there. For example, the gradual move from Cat 6 to Cat 6a will mean that end users, consultants and integrators will consider other brands and other product designs. This gives us the chance to talk to new customers.
NE: How important is third party verification to the end-user when making a choice?
AP: To most, it is important. To some, it may not be. But I think there’s an assumption at times that certain vendors will automatically have what’s required. This is not always the case. Without wanting to be contentious,
I think in certain cases there is a lot of smoke and mirrors when it comes to third party verification of components and solutions, particularly around Cat 6a. There are often real differences between one claim of verification and another. For example, some certificates that are used relate only to a single sample of products that was provided to a test house and given a tick in the box; the so-called ‘golden sample’. This is compared to other certificates which involve quarterly factory audits, reviews of the production line, and batch testing. This can all be quite confusing for end users. For example, the vast majority of certificates issues by test labs are only valid for one year, so if you’ve got something that’s dated 26th July 2010, it’s not actually a valid certificate any more.
There is a list of questions that end
users or specifiers should ask that would give them a clearer picture: Is the certification current and up to date? Is it to the latest ISO standard? Is it for ongoing production or a golden sample? Then they could make the decision on qualified accurate information.
NE: Do you think that shielded cabling will become the dominant technology in structured cabling?
AP: I think it’s been established as the way it should go. Whether it’s the way that people are going is a different question. We see a lot of enquiries for Cat 6a at the moment beginning life and maybe ending life as UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair) enquiries and projects, because there is a perception that this is the cheaper option. If you compare connector to connector and cable to cable it may be cheaper, but integrators and users should consider the whole cost of purchase. There are testing implications around UTP onsite that can increase the cost. In many instances, UTP cables are larger in diameter than shielded, so there are containment costs to consider. Some education is still needed to explain why shielded is the preferred method when adopting a Cat 6a solution. It is not just about shielding as a safeguard against electromagnetic interference or alien crosstalk but also about ease of installation, cable size, and prolonged life in the future.
NE: What are your opinions on fibre vs. copper?
AP: I think that fibre will become an ever greater part of the LAN installation. Clearly fibre is a necessity in the data centre due to the data rates. And if we’re going to have more bandwidth in the backbone or in closed services coming into businesses, then there has to be a method to distribute that within the local area. Costs of electronics are dropping, and the price of copper is increasing, which will help that uptake. However, I don’t think we were
ever in the camp that said that copper wouldn’t keep up with fibre. Acceptance and ease of use is so great that I just
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