Sports.com Limited - Go Surfing With Siemon

Sports.com Limited — Go Surfing With Siemon

Sports.com Limited, Europe's leading mobile and fixed Internet provider of European sports content, community and commerce, is one of the most dynamic, fastest growing examples of the .com revolution. A prime element in Sports.com's success has been their investment in the latest communication network and Internet systems. Siemon category 5e structured cabling and interconnection has been used throughout the new Sports.com Leeds complex - their main data collection hub for Sports.com Europe. Expansion across Europe currently includes a presence in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Holland.

"We needed a very high density, totally reliable system that gave us our required flexibility...Our growth has been phenomenal, so we wanted a system that could keep pace with ongoing expansion."

Sports.com occupies the third floor of the beautifully restored 19th century Marshall Mill in central Leeds, where Network Installations Europe Ltd (NIE), the Yorkshire-based Siemon networking specialist, undertook total turnkey project management of the network installation. This included the initial survey, all ongoing design, supply and installation of the complete system, with an 800 outlet Siemon category 5e network, a server room, including CISCO switches, Compaq servers and a substantial UPS and standby generator system.

Flood wired, NIE specially selected Siemon MAX^®, work area, category 5e Modular Outlets. Their very streamlined, low profile, high density capability enabled NIE to produce their own purpose-made floor plates to accept 12 Siemon MAX outlets, in 4 rows of 3, in each plate. "We needed a very high density, totally reliable system that gave us our required flexibility," says Simon Burrell, a Director at Sports.com. "Our growth has been phenomenal," he added, "so we wanted a system that could keep pace with ongoing expansion."

Formed as a company in May 1999 and launched as a .com site in August 1999, Sports.com achieved the highest, ABC audited, page/viewers ratings at 31 million in just 100 days from going live. Sports.com anticipate further substantial increases.

To guarantee the required category 5e integrity throughout the network, the NIE installation included Siemon category 5e Modular Patch Panels and Cords. Bob Wilson, the NIE Director responsible for the project, commented, "As a networking specialist, we turnkey project manage whole systems, taking particular care in selecting the best products for a job, and of course, ensuring their all-important, correct installation. The quality of Siemon product, we believe, is second-to-none and their 'Certified Installer' training program cannot be bettered. For cat 5e work it enables us to pass on a Siemon full 16 year warranty for parts, labor and application." "With modern networks," adds Bob Wilson, "only by providing the best products and correct installation procedures can we protect clients 'investment and ensure a successfully functioning system."

The quality of the Siemon product, we believe, is second-tonone and their 'Certified Installer' training program cannot be bettered.

Siemon operates a world-wide training policy that is stringently adhered to. In the UK they have a fulltime training centre with training manager and staff. 'Certified Installer' status can only be achieved following an intensive training program and total competence demonstrated under examination conditions.

Unusually, Sports.com sources all their own story material, with the Leeds centre acting as a hub, taking up-to-the-minute reports from events across Europe, where by the story is uploaded via the Siemon structured cabling system onto the net. The Leeds site is also linked to the main group company centers in Chiswick, London and the world headquarters of their USA parent company, Sportsline.com in Fort Lauderdale where the page layouts are designed. Shareholders in Sportsline.com include the massive communications and media groups, TWI and IMG.

(2000, UK)