Overlooked: DAS/small cell consultants

Prior to becoming a wireless infrastructure consultant, I sold a number of large and midsize distributed antenna systems (DAS). Somewhat to my surprise, my customers rarely engaged the services of a consultant to guide the process. But I never gave that much thought until I began consulting—go figure. Now, as I ponder how to attract clients, I also find myself pondering why consultants are rarely engaged in the typical enterprise DAS deployment. After giving it some thought, I believe I’ve narrowed it down to three primary reasons (and, in addition, I’ll give you five good reasons not to overlook consultants on your next DAS or small cell deployment):

Reason #1: Perceived knowledge

I’m a board member of my condo Home Owner’s Association (HOA), and we’re in the process of purchasing a new membrane roof for our nineteen-year-old building. I’ve acted as the general contractor for my cottage and condo rehab, and helped construct a number of DAS systems.

I therefore assumed that, armed with a bit of research and my construction experience, I possessed enough knowledge to successfully procure a new commercial roof. I’m pretty sure that I would be able to successfully source a replacement roof from one of the many local roofing contractors. My initial thought was that the HOA didn’t need to hire a consultant to provide the knowledge and guidance a reputable roofing contractor will provide for free.

But then I got to thinking about the reasons for hiring a consultant (more on that later) and came to the conclusion that the board would be relying strictly on the guidance of biased parties, that we really don’t know which roofing contractors are the best in our area, and we would simply be making too many assumptions going into the project. Bottom line: I figured, “You don’t know what you don’t know,” so we hired the consultant.

Reason #2: Institutionalization

Our decision to hire a roofing consultant was aided by the fact that there is a well-defined trade of roofing consultants, equipped with an association that provides education, certification, etc. In addition to obtaining a referral from a neighboring condo HOA that recently replaced its roof, we found plenty of local roofing consultants that provide valuable services at costs well below our expectations. There are thousands of roofing consultants across the country, but I can only think of a handful of wireless consultants that specialize in and are qualified to provide consulting services for cellular and public-safety in-building coverage. As enterprise DAS and small cell markets grow, so will the number of consulting firms.

Reason #3: Trust

When I sold enterprise DAS solutions, my sales approach entailed listening to the customer’s needs and then educating them on all things DAS—only then did I pitch the company’s attributes and capabilities. Throughout the long sales cycle, I continued to gain the trust of the customer. As a vendor-agnostic integrator, we could recommend DAS solutions from any manufacturer, so that seemed to alleviate any bias concerns. And selling alongside channel partners, who maintained a strong relationship with the customer, added credibility and built further trust. And I’d figure that after the customer performed their due diligence, they would simply trust our word, as well as their own judgment. But given all of the new products, services, and business models available today, relying on a few service providers to fully educate you on all things DAS and small cell may be expecting too much.

I’m sure there are other reasons why the typical enterprise chooses not to engage a consultant when considering in-building cellular and public-safety coverage. The more important question is, “Why should I hire a consultant?” Below, I list five universal reasons to consider engaging a consultant and five more specific reasons directly related to the HetNet marketplace:

Five general reasons to hire a consultant

1.    Comprehensive analysis of your needs: Companies tend to sell what they have, not necessarily what you need. Rarely does one company do—or know—it all.

2.    Unbiased guidance and recommendations: If there is a financial interest, there will always be bias.

3.    Confidence you are selecting the best products and services: A good consultant knows the best and worst industry products, services, and people.

4.    Education and knowledge: More is always better and priceless in the decision-making process.

5.    Guidance to ensure industry best practices are being used: My experience indicates that 90 percent of all deployment problems can be avoided if industry best practices and procedures are followed.

Five specific reasons to hire a consultant for an in-building wireless deployment

1.    Small cells are becoming a viable solution for the enterprise, but most integrators are not authorized to sell them. You might be pitched only what the integrator can sell.

2.    Third-party owner/operators are differentiating their offerings, so it’s no longer a matter of who’s promising the biggest revenue share. Some transaction models will work better for you than others.

3.    Recently, the number of DAS product offerings has more than doubled, and they all have strengths and weaknesses. It’s critical to understand the trade-offs.

4.    Digital DAS is now an option to consider over analog DAS. Digital DAS also opens the door to sharing cable infrastructure with other low-voltage applications, but what should that cable medium be: twisted-pair or fiber?

5.     Acquiring the RF source from the carriers can be a mysterious process. Too many DAS solutions have been deployed without the desired carriers “plugging in” to the DAS, which kind of defeats the purpose.