Design Independent Design & Engineering Technical people are generally not shy about how they would like their equipment organized and how they would like to see it function. We understand how fussy and meticulous those requirements can be and how lessons learned about previous installations and new demands need to be applied in future installations. Some of our clients provide us their own very detailed designs and simply ask us to build them. On the other extreme, we have been asked to look at what's been done in the past, poll requirements from various disparate sources, impute industry direction, review growth plans, and architect a complete solution from scratch. Most often, our engagements draw something from both approaches. In addition to technical considerations, business mangers are trying to achieve the correct balance between current and future capital costs, recurring expenses, and immediate revenue opportunities. Thus, no data center installation or network design is absolutely perfect. Time, money and insufficient knowledge of the future are constraints that ultimately necessitate compromise. Compromise, that in our experience, all parties to this process must accept. At Hooked we strive to achieve the best balance of these considerations as an honest broker with genuine insight into each constituents camp. Finally, because we have knowledge of numerous technologies, experience with most major vendors and allegiances with none; we can help point our clients in unbiased directions. In data center and network build-outs our engineering deliverables are concrete. They consist of a set of straightforward documents that clearly define the specifications and functional requirements that the contractors, vendors and client shall meet. These are essential for accurate budgeting and procurement purposes. Furthermore when we program manage the whole project, these documents become an integral part of the overall project plan. They used to clearly define the scope of each party's responsibilities, and a guide to the percentage of completion as things progress. They are circulated to effectively communicate how the vendors, contractors, and client must perform in detail and scope. They are also --when necessary-- used to adapt to changes and refinements to the specifications. This document based mode of communication is not always the norm in the IT world, but this type of unambiguous communication between and among those who are responsible for completing aspects of the project plan is critical to staying on budget and completing projects on schedule. To facilitate this 'deliverables process' in an a fashion that holds parties accountable, Hooked has developed a project planning and document control infrastructure that it makes available to its, clients, contractors and vendors. Clear specifications lay the groundwork for acceptance criteria. The closing stages of the project include the application of testing and acceptance procedures that map to the defined specifications. For example, upon completion of the cable plant a test report on all ports is required from the installer and labeling is checked against the design document. As circuits are turned up they are tested and accepted from the Carriers as subcomponents of the overall Network installation procedure. Engineers other than the one that created them validate a completed configuration. Actual protocol and equipment behavior is compared to design theory, load is simulated where possible and fail-over redundancy is confirmed and security protections are put in place prior to moving into production. Success is defined as observing that our clients' expectations have been met or exceeded.