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Rapid Growth and Expansion
Established in 1997, the Australian owned and operated Internet business launched seek.com.au in 1998. Their web site has more that 65,000 listed job vacancies and over 1.1 million job seekers each month representing approximately 10 percent of the Australian workforce.
In 1999 SEEK expanded into New Zealand with the launch of seek.co.nz, which soon became New Zealand’s most popular employment website. In 2002 the company was voted Australia’s fastest growing company by Business Review Weekly and in a recent study conducted by Navigator Consulting in their 2003 Recruitment Industry Performance Report, were nominated as the most successful employment resource for job seekers compared to print and other online employment sites. SEEK also operate SEEK UK, which caters for job seekers looking to work overseas.
With the recent acquisition of New Zealand’s second most popular employment website, nzjobs.co.nz, SEEK have now secured top position as the leader in online recruitment advertising in Australia and New Zealand. The rapid growing company required a fast and reliable network to support their future expansion.
A Cost-Effective Solution
The project was originally specified to a competitive cabling manufacturer as a Cat 5e installation. However, after consultation between Molex Premise Networks and SEEK and recommendations from both the installer, AD McCulloch Pty Ltd and the contracted builders, Schiavello, a Molex Category 6 structured cabling system was chosen as the preferred solution. „We had an opportunity to speak to the client directly and put forward an alternative solution. It was designed for Cat 5e but with Molex’s help we installed a Cat 6 solution with cost benefits to the client,” said James Thompson, Project Manager of AD McCulloch Pty Ltd – Certified Installers for Molex Premise Networks.
SEEK chose Cat 6 over Cat 5e because of negligible premium costs and their requirement to have a cabling solution that would adequately deal with any future applications they would implement.
As part of the PowerCat 6 infrastructure AD McCulloch laid Cat 6 cable throughout the three-story building and installed Cat 5e patch leads to service the desktop and work area. By installing Cat 5e patch leads in the work area, the premium costs of the Cat 6 solution were kept down to a level that adequately reflects SEEK’s present requirements. As SEEK’s needs change over time, where they require the benefits of Cat 6, they will switch over to full Cat 6 channel, incurring any additional costs over a longer period of time. The Cat 6 network was limited to links between the communications cupboard and the server room with 484 points across three floors. This provided future proofing to the desktop while ensuring a reliable media between the communications room and the server room.
SEEK’s business revolves around the Internet so it was imperative to put in place an infrastructure that would cope with their current and future requirements. Since completion of the installation, AD McCulloch have installed an additional 60 outlets to cope with SEEK’s rapidly expanding business.
„As SEEK is an E-Business, the choice of infrastructure was very important to them as they are looking at migrating to voice over IP in the future,” commented James. What was unique about the installation was that main cable routes were kept below the ceiling on a cable tray, which was placed below the ceiling grid. While this was part of the architectural design of the building, it also provided the added benefit of eliminating segregation and bend radius issues often found in the ceiling space and ensuring all cabling was safely away from the hazards of the ceiling void. The workstations are fed by umbilical cords as opposed to the standard service pole.
A Team Effort
„AD McCulloch were a great team and did an excellent job. They were extremely professional and flexible. We encountered a few changes along the way and they were always prepared to modify their priorities and add some extra temporary cabling while we dealt with the migration,” said Chris Lafferty, Production Services at SEEK Limited.
At the time of the installation, the Cat 6 standard had not long been ratified and AD McCulloch expressed some concerns regarding the set up of the tester and the test leads. Their supplier had also provided them with the incorrect leads. Molex assisted AD
McCulloch on site with setting up the tester and providing them with the correct leads. The Molex team were also on hand to assist with technical advice and support during the installation backed by a 25-year product warranty. „Molex ensured the Cat 6 product was available as it was fairly new to the market at the time and we had a few testing issues with the product,” commented James.The Molex Category 6 Solution provided SEEK Limited with a reliable and high performance communications network, delivering a cost effective solution with sufficient room for future expansion. According to Chris, „Prior to the installation we had no formal communications closet in place with a varying set of cabling standards. We now have a state-of-the-art cabling system and a well-structured central point of distribution. This will make all future moves and changes a much easier prospect.”
