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McCormick Earns NECA Show Stopper Award |
We recently received word (from Electrical Contractor magazine) that the ABS (Automated Building Systems) product line was honored as one of the top products at the 2006 NECA Show -- winning us a "ShowStopper" award. It's the 10th time McCormick Systems has taken home an award from the NECA Show -- 10 awards in our 28-year history.
Here's the text we submitted to the magazine:
McCormick Systems’ award winning line of estimating products now offers a complete line of products designed specifically for ABS Contractors. Whether your business focus is Voice, Data, Fiber Optics, Fire Alarm, Audio, Video, Paging, CCTV, Card Access, Surveillance, Low Voltage, HVAC Controls, Nurse Call, Cable Tray, Security, Intercoms, Lightning Protection, Electrical, or a combination of them all, McCormick has the estimating package to satisfy your needs.
Industry Perspective:
Network Manager Survey Results
Find below a press release on a recent survey (from CommScope). We've highlighted the part that should be really interesting to ABS and datacom contractors.
SYSTIMAX(R) Solutions Survey Reveals Network Downtime as Primary Concern for Network Managers
Survey respondents also pinpoint network speed, management and monitoring as important considerations in infrastructure decisions
SYSTIMAX® Solutions from CommScope (NYSE: CTV - News), the worldwide leader in structured connectivity solutions, has announced the results of a global research study conducted among 1,484 information technology (IT) professionals. The new SYSTIMAX Solutions(TM) research report, entitled "Speed and Agility, Performance and Reliability: A Report on Global Enterprise Network Trends," includes responses from IT professionals from 45 countries and demonstrates the effects of network infrastructure solutions and support services on user productivity.
As more employees rely on the company network, the impact of downtime on productivity loss, and ultimately on corporate costs, becomes an increasingly serious issue. The survey discovered that users reported, on average, 1.9 hours of network downtime a month and found that companies that have deployed higher performance cabling tended to experience lower average downtime.
"The survey demonstrates that most IT professionals suspect that downtime is an issue," said Fiona Nolan, Global Marketing Director of SYSTIMAX Solutions. "They probably have a sinking feeling that money is draining from the company bank account every time a server crashes or a service provision to a key user takes a week to fulfill. Well, we believe they're right. That's the bad news. But the good news is that the study also shows that professionals who are willing to invest in quality systems are better able to support the evolving networking needs of the company."
The study demonstrates that more and more IT professionals are planning to install copper-based Category 6A cabling, while Category 5e cabling is heading for obsolescence. And, from a fiber perspective, throughout the past five years there has been rapid growth in acceptance of laser optimized multimode fiber as an alternative to traditional multimode and singlemode fiber.
The survey results demonstrate these trends:
- Category 6A cabling currently represents 5% of the installed base of structured cabling systems. Respondents now expect 25%of new installations to utilize Category 6A cabling, up from just 17% a year ago. The largest adopters are expected to be in the finance and technology sectors.
- Category 5e cabling was used in 53% of historical installations. Participants now expect to use Category 5e in less than 9% of new installations.
- While OM1 and OM2 multimode fiber is currently the most popular, that popularity is expected to be cut in half, dropping to only 34% of new installations.
- OM3 laser optimized multimode fiber is expected to become the dominant fiber for future installations. While OM3 currently represents 11% of the installed base, it is expected to be utilized in 43% of new fiber installations. The increase in usage matches the faster networking speeds in the backbone. In 2002, only 28% of the respondents intended to install OM3 fiber; today 43% of the survey participants believe they will need OM3 to support their networks.
The study also indicates a growing trend among IT professionals of migrating to faster speeds in the horizontal and the backbone connections. Some key indicators:
- In the horizontal, installation of 10 Gb/s Ethernet is expected to increase from 4% to 29% over the next five years.
- In the backbone, more than half of respondents - 51% - intend to install 10 Gb/s Ethernet in the next five years, while users expect that 100 Gb/s Ethernet will represent 15% of installations for network backbones by 2011.
In addition to network downtime, productivity can be lost as IT professionals spend more time working on moves, adds and changes (MACs) for an increasingly mobile workforce, or on other support functions, including unauthorized or incorrect MACs, LAN connectivity problems and IT service provisioning and auditing:
- Overall, users reported that nearly 18% of network assets are mislaid or moved unofficially annually, and 11% of MACs, on average, need rework.
- Globally, users reported 3.8 LAN connectivity problems annually, averaging 1.3 hours of time lost per occurrence. Companies typically spend 19% of IT support time monitoring network performance.
- IT managers reported spending an average of 4.4 hours preparing and initiating an IT work order and 7.7 hours per month auditing network assets.
"Video conferencing, VoIP and collaborative working are all on the rise," Nolan said. "These applications improve productivity and reduce costs - and IT administrators are accommodating these demands by migrating Ethernet networks to higher speed and, subsequently, higher performance cabling from the backbone all the way to the desktop."
McCormick In The News
NECA offers a 17-page "Exhibitor Prospectus" with information for companies that might think about displaying their wares in a booth at the 2007 NECA Show. You can download it by clicking here. Be sure to see page 17 (the back page), where a quote from our president, Todd McCormick, tops the page:
"The NECA Show is more than just another trade show, it continues to be our premier event year after year. The attendees are the decision makers...the key players. This is a show where you build relationships that last, McCormick Systems has been exhibiting in the NECA show for the past 25+ years."
Other recent highlights:
Todd McCormick quoted in ConstrucTech magazine article about estimating & project management.
McCormick's IEC Award made the front page of Electrical News, with a picture!
Our ABS product release appeared in the 11/06 Electrical Contractor magazine
What We're Telling The Media
How Savvy Contractors Boost Their Estimating Productivity
Contractors who use software from McCormick Systems to estimate and manage electrical and automated building systems projects will gather April 18-21 in Phoenix, AZ for the company's annual User's Conference.
This year's Conference will be the 25th annual. The event includes two full days of meetings plus access to an on-site computer "lab." Users can use the lab to try out ideas they hear during the conference, with or without help from McCormick staff.
"Our customers tell us they want to be able to do more estimates, faster, and more accurately, with the same resources – in terms of people and equipment," says Todd McCormick, the company president. "Our agenda this year primarily focuses on those concerns."
An additional agenda item is a popular annual segment, "What You Have On Your Computer That You Aren't Using." Many elements included as "standard" items in the estimating software can be overlooked by contractors, including:
· Options for keeping pricing current
· Project Documentation
· Accessing your estimating system remotely
· And, of course, an abundance of information on Estimating
About McCormick Systems
Privately owned McCormick Systems, of Chandler, AZ, is the nation’s leader in software used for electrical and ABS estimating and project management. The company’s products enable contractors to produce consistent, profitable estimates for electrical , voice-data-video work, and more.
More information: www.mccormicksys.com or 800-444-4890.
Where You Can See Us In 2007
Mark your calendar for the McCormick Systems User's
Conference -- April 18-21 in Phoenix, AZ.
Here are our scheduled appearances at industry events this
year:
Feb. 21-23, Long Beach, CA -- Electric West
May 2-4, Las Vegas, NV -- ABC Electrical & Mechanical
Education Conference
Sept. 10-13, Las Vegas, NV -- BICSI Fall Conference
Oct. 6-8, San Francisco, CA -- NECA Convention & Show
Oct. 24-27, Houston, TX -- IEC Convention & Expo.
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