Although entertainment is the heart of their business, HBO uses information technology as a valuable tool for growth and diversification.
Launched in November 1972, HBO® is the oldest and largest pay-TV service in the United States. Acclaimed as one of the most innovative and thought-provoking networks on TV, HBO continually garners critical accolades for its programming in addition to such awards as the Oscar®, Emmy, Peabody, and more Cable ACE Awards than nearly all the other cable services combined. Every month the nation's leading pay-TV network offers more than 92 motion pictures to over 20 million subscribers.
Currently in the midst of a two-year, $4 million cabling project, HBO has recognized the value of information technology (IT) to its business and has made a commitment to developing and supporting leading-edge technology. "HBO prides itself on being a leader in home entertainment, as well as in using information technology," says Chief Information Officer Albie Collins. "Senior management is very supportive of this sizable project. Photos of our wiring closets-current and planned- went a long way in portraying the payback this project will achieve."
One of the most successful aspects of HBO's IT activity has been the creation of a number of custom applications. Developed to meet the specific needs of various departments at HBO, these programs help track the status of movie deals, provide marketing information on subscribers and affiliates, and catalog the hundreds of thousands of titles in HBO's film library.
Albie Collins describes the value of these programs: "The custom applications developed are of enormous importance to HBO. There is a high demand for more. Our application development group is growing and growing because the different business units can see that the applications are helping them to sell more, to expand into other businesses, to be more profitable. HBO is using information technology as a way to grow the business."
Because films are at the core of HBO's business, video and imaging are factors in many of the applications being developed. Network manager Michael Smith observes "Programmers can imagine the day when video across the network will be a part of the applications that they develop, so there's a need for more bandwidth in the LAN environment. So the type of application we're driving towards demands the type of high-performance cabling system that we're installing."
Developing the plan
About two years ago HBO decided to deploy LAN switching to support their evolution toward bandwidth-intensive application. Recognizing that their increasingly demanding IT requirements would require high-powered computers as well as state-of-the-art network equipment, HBO decided to reevaluate its cabling infrastructure. A POTS (plain old telephone service) cabling plant had been installed when the HBO building was originally constructed, and a number of proprietary data cabling systems had been added over the years. As new applications were brought on line and services such as faxes and modems were added, the cabling infrastructure became more complex and fragmented. As a result, the installed cabling was quickly becoming a liability; an executive report prepared by Smith estimates that if HBO elected to use their existing cabling to rewire their 1,800 workstations, they could expect to spend $2.7 million on an unstructured system that would be unable to support the next generation of computing technologies.
Communications engineer Tom Darling explains: "The telecommunications closets weren't designed to support the services we wanted them to. In the condition that they were in, a technician would go in to do some testing and accidentally knock three people off the network. A lot of network problems were caused by cabling problems."
Network engineer Gargan Yee explains, "We said to ourselves, A structured cabling infrastructure is what we're going to need to support our information technology. We can't do it with the old system, it's too difficult and the old cabling wasn't intended to support mission-critical data applications.' In today's business climate, a reliable communications cabling system is as important as dependable electrical power. So now we're completely rebuilding HBO's network infrastructure, including an electronics overhaul coupled with the rewiring of the building."
Implementing the Plan
Faced with the challenges of a massive project that would span from HBO's headquarters in New York to a West coast office in Los Angeles, Smith and his team at headquarters began to implement their plan. The first step was to assemble a team of cabling experts that would help HBO meet their objectives. The Siemon Cabling System, with its Qualified Cabling Partners and Certified Installer network provided the framework for the project.
"It's more than just slapping some cat. 5 cable in and wiring up jacks; we really wanted to do it right. We have an entire team of experts behind our effort to roll out this new infrastructure. On the systems integrator front we have Doug Platzer and Wendy Perry at Wise Components. They've been instrumental in supporting us and making sure that our needs are met on a daily basis.
"Doug and his staff at Wise told us 'There are a number of cabling systems you can consider-AT&T, Northern Telecomm, ITT-but we recommend that you look at Siemon. We think that their product is superior to the others.' We looked at a lot of existing installations and did some of our own product evaluations before deciding to choose Siemon. I studied more about jacks and patch panels than I ever thought I would, but it's worth doing because there are differences and the differences become significant when you need to support the environment later. Tom Nichols is our Siemon rep, and he's been extremely helpful throughout the project.
"The next member of the team is CommScope, a Siemon qualified cabling partner. We went with CommScope because we had the installers check out different cable and they liked the flexibility and the light weight of CommScope's enhanced cat. 5 cable. Besides that, our CommScope rep. Dan Heffernan knows the product inside out and he's a big help.
"Finally, our Siemon certified installer is OmniTech, and they have been fantastic. They are great craftsmen and have a team of people who are very Siemon savvy. They're well versed technically and right on top of every-thing. So it's a great team to have behind us."
Tom Darling, whose day-to-day responsibilities in the field give him a unique perspective on the job, commented "I think that out of all the certified systems available, Siemon has the best solution for LAN applications, for a true cabling infrastructure. They've put a lot of time and effort into their program. They realized that this was something that was needed in the industry. They've taken it to the next plateau by saying 'these are our guidelines, and this is what you can accomplish if you follow these guidelines'."
Looking to the Future
In order to accommodate the possibility of video applications at every workstation, HBO decided to bring fiber to every desktop. "We don't want to go back to do anything for a long time because we don't have the luxury of easy access. For the incremental cost of fiber it made sense to bring it to every desk," says Smith.
Greg Forte of OmniTech describes the strategy: "HBO's objectives are not unique in that most progressive companies are trying to position themselves for the future. But HBO is accomplishing it in a unique way. Because of the applications that they want to support, it is a good approach."
Each desk at HBO will be equipped with what HBO has nicknamed the "Superjack": a dual gang CT faceplate outfitted with cat. 3, cat. 5, and fiber connectors. Tom Darling describes his impressions so far: "The CT couplers are easy to work with. They're very interchangeable, they look nice, and there's a variety of colors and colored icons. But the bottom line is they work-we've had no problems with them."
"A lot of energy was devoted to assessing the right jack and believe me it was energy well spent," continued Smith. "We also specified Siemon's 1 inch stand-off ring so that our fiber, which is super-sensitive, would be properly installed. We didn't want an installer to have to jam the cable into the gang box, so the stand-off ring lets them loop the fiber properly before they terminate the jack."
In the closets, HBO specified Siemon's CT Oversized Panel. "I love the oversized panel," says Smith, "It gives you plenty of room and the key to this stuff is to give yourself plenty of room. As you can see, the installation work is really being done meticulously, and it's important because it will be a lot easier to support moving forward."
The Results are Clear
Now that they are well into their project, Smith and his team at HBO can already see results. "We never have any user problems that are attributable to cabling," he says. "We used to be plagued with service calls constantly, and we'd find out that a tech who was checking out a phone might have disturbed the connections. This used to happen every day, and now it never happens. These floors basically run themselves. I'm a data network guy and I recognize that structured cabling is an important foundation to build your network on, so I'm a big proponent of The Siemon Cabling System."
And from a business perspective, Tom Darling, Communications engineer, looks at the big picture "It gives us a sense of security that if in 5 or 10 years from now the applications change, we won't have to worry about recabling the building again. That application will be supported by the Siemon solution. We've chosen Siemon from the jack to the rack. We're wired up, we're golden and we're ready for whatever they want to bring in here."
"HBO prides itself on being a leader in home entertainment, as well as in using information technology. Senior management is very supportive of this sizable project. Photos of our wiring closets-current and planned-went a long way in portraying the payback this project will achieve."
-Albie Collins, CIO
"I studied more about jacks and patch panels than I ever thought I would, but it's worth doing because there are differences and the differences become significant when you need to support the environment later."
-Michael Smith, Network Manager
"In today's business climate, a reliable communications cabling system is as important as dependable electrical power."
-Gargan Yee, Network Engineer
"It gives us a sense of security that if in 5 or 10 years from now the applications change, we won't have to worry about recabling the building again. That application will be supported by the Siemon solution."
-Tom Darling, Communications Engineer
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