Jonathan Jew: Unsung hero's praises finally sung

March 14, 2013
When Jonathan Jew designs a data center's structured cabling system so it complies with North American or international standard specifications, you can forgive him if he's not meticulously poring over every chapter and verse of said standard.

When Jonathan Jew designs a data center's structured cabling system so it complies with North American or international standard specifications, you can forgive him if he's not meticulously poring over every chapter and verse of said standard. That's because there's a very good chance he was deeply involved in the creation of the specifications he is meeting for those customers.

As president of J&M Consultants (www.j-and-m.com), Jew has carried out 66 data center relocation and infrastructure projects, totaling more than 2 million square feet of floor space, over the past 33 years. Outside of that "day job," he has taken a leading role in the creation of several of the most critical specifications governing data center cabling system and facilities design, installation and management. A speaker at no fewer than 40 industry events and author of or contributor to 18 industry magazine articles (and counting), Jew has funded his own participation in standards-development efforts that have resulted in the publication of such specifications as ANSI/TIA-942 (2005), ANSI/TIA-942-A (2012), ANSI/BICSI-002-2010 (2010), ANSI/TIA-606-B (2012), ISO/IEC 14763-2-1 (2011), BICSI Telecommunications Distribution Methods Manual 13th Edition. Space limitations here permit only this partial list, which includes fewer than half of the specifications to which he has significantly contributed.

Within the many standards-creation groups he's been part of, Jew has held and continues to hold volunteer positions including "co-chair," "vice chair," "editor," and "project lead."

Despite so many of Jonathan Jew's efforts taking place behind the proverbial curtain of committee meetings within organizations like BICSI, the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) and the International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC), his contributions thankfully have been recognized by the industry at large. In January 2010 he received the Harry J. Pfister Award for Excellence in the Telecommunications Industry-essentially a "lifetime achievement award" given out each winter by BICSI. Additionally, Jew received the TIA Certificate of Appreciation Award in 2008; Mervyn's Outstanding Achievement Award, for contributions as a consultant to that organization's successful data center relocation in 1992; and the Chevron Special Incentive Award, also for significant contributions to that customer's data center relocation resulting from the Gulf-Chevron merger, in 1985.

Think about that for a moment. Jonathan Jew received special recognition from a client of his, for successfully relocating a data center, in 1985-four years after earning his Master of Science degree in computer science from the University of California at Berkeley. Consider the lack of formal guidelines in existence at that time. Perhaps not coincidentally, Jew has seen to it that other, similar projects can follow well-thought-out, specific procedures and designs to ensure their success. He has dedicated countless hours of his time, as well as resources, to that volunteer effort.

While he is being singled out here, Jonathan as always is quick to downplay individual efforts and emphasize the team aspect of accomplishments. "I appreciate the support of my business partner Darrell McKay [the "M" of J&M Consultants], and the co-chairs and chairs of the subcommittees on which I have served-Chris DiMinico, John Kacpersky, Steve Huffaker and Ray Emplitt," Jew said. "I also appreciate the guidance and mentorship of Bob Jensen, Herb Congdon, Donna Ballast, Dave Hess, Julie Roy, Jeff Silveira and Masood Shariff." He added that he is "excited and encouraged with the rate of change in our industry. If anything, it seems to be accelerating, so there is always something we need to be working on."

Rest assured, Jonathan Jew will be working on it.

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