FIELD REPORT
DEAN FARAR, DIRECTOR OF IT SERVICES, YETC
Bandwidth Boosts Education in Yuma
A test: How to get more speed, greater reliability and ever-increasing bandwidth for schools—for less money? THE CHALLENGE: Technology has become a crucial component of managing school districts. Two large districts in Arizona—the six-school Yuma Union High School District and the 17-school Yuma Elementary School District One—rely on the Yuma Educational Technology Consortium (YETC) to enable and facilitate all their technology services. More than 2,500 employees and 22,000 students use laptops, tablets, and smart phones in their daily work. However, slow speeds and inconsistent service from YETC’s T-1 provider could not keep up with the schools’ increasing bandwidth needs. In addition, YETC’s cost to maintain and upgrade the T-1 network was becoming exorbitant.
THE SOLUTION: The Time Warner Cable Business Class (TWCBC) proposal was a winner. “The overall solution fit our budget and the growing technology needs of our school districts,” says Dean Farar, the consortium’s director of IT services.
TWCBC installed an Ethernet Local Area Network (ELAN) multipoint-to-multipoint managed network configuration, which includes 20, 40, 60, and 100 Mbps circuits, based on school location requirements. This robust network solution also provides a 200 Mbps Dedicated Internet Access (DIA) circuit. TWCBC’s managed MEF-compliant Ethernet Wide Area Network (EWAN) is a good choice for an enterprise like the YETC to provide consolidated IT services to school districts. It is a cost-effective alternative to legacy technologies that comes with guarantees defined as part of a Service Level Agreement (SLA). The switch from the T-1 provider and overall installation were without issues and met YETC’s urgent timeline. In addition, TWCBC was able to help YETC’s districts apply for a federal E-Rate program that provided funding for 80 percent of the Ethernet outlay.
THE RESULT: TWCBC’s services have helped YETC and its districts save money while enhancing the delivery of education.
• In addition to the E-Rate funding, TWCBC helped the consortium save money because employees no longer have to work during off hours to restore services. • As the bandwidth needs of the schools continued to increase, YETC was able, with a simple phone call, to upgrade to 1Gbps Metro Ethernet and DIA circuits. There were no additional costs for routers, switches, or hardware.
I can’t explain to you the peace of mind. Looking ahead, YETC has the ability to scale bandwidth up to 10Gbps+ with TWCBC’s network. This enhances the consortium’s ability to support the future convergence of data, voice, and video services for the two school districts. The ease of access to educational resources has helped strengthen YETC’s reputation as a trusted IT organization for school districts. “You don’t really have any kind of success in a school district unless you have student success,” Farar says. “Time Warner Cable Business Class has become an integral part of the education of students.” As a bonus, school administrators and YETC management can sleep better. “Without TWCBC, our network would come to a halt,” Farar says. “I can’t explain to you the peace of mind.”
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