North Carolina Construction News special feature
DataNet IT was founded in Silicon Valley 30 years ago as a full-service IT company. Then, in 2011, Jeff Hodges and Brian Van Vliet were hired in the Research Triangle Park office to provide infrastructure cabling services.
Since then, the two thought they had done and seen it all – data centers, enterprise building, large upfits and small renovations of old buildings. Working with companies like Cisco Systems has given them a depth of experience and expertise.
Then Citrix turned to DatNet IT to do the IT wiring for the newly-added fourth floor as part of the transformation of the former Dillon supply Warehouse into Citrix’s Raleigh office – which it is touting as the workplace of the future. And it was definitely something completely different.
“When they built those old buildings, they weren’t thinking about IT,” says Hodges, DataNet’s infrastructure services manager. “Plus this time, we had to integrate what we did with what had already been done in the lower floors.”
Steve Nicholson, Citrix’s senior director of real estate strategy and operation, knew how important that cabling was – especially since Citrix is a leader in mobile workspaces, providing visualization, mobility management, networking and cloud services that create new ways to work better.
“Any time you build a high-tech building, you need connectivity both within and without,” Nicholson says. “It’s not only important to have the infrastructure in place, but it must be scalable and flexible as the company evolves.” Originally planned to house around 400 employees, the Citrix office will have a staff of 850 by year’s end.
Citrix, its contractor and architect took the team approach very seriously, and Hodges and Van Vliet attended many of the planning sessions, which paid off. Says Van Vliet, DataNet’s project manager, “We see problems before they happen and then deliver the solutions – and on time.”
Hodges echoes that evaluation of DataNet’s competitive edge. “It takes thorough planning and getting to understand what the customer wants to accomplish and then having the skill set to produce it. We plan for shortcomings before they happen.”
Structured cable installation is a vital part of a company’s success in today’s wired environment. DataNet provides customers with everything from design of the structured cable system to installation, testing and documentation.
As a full-service solutions provider, it delivers virtually all products and services needed for a successful installation and deployment, with uniform, open physical cabling topologies that can simultaneously support multiple logical networking topologies for different applications. Consequently, working in partnership with electricians and other tradespeople is a key to DataNet’s success.