Connection. Making the. The Value of an Education-Focused Managed Network Service Provider

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1 Making the Connection The Value of an Education-Focused Managed Network Service Provider America s schools and libraries are going digital. The planning, funding and deployment of IP services has become one of the most critical elements in the delivery of instructional and administrative applications as well as the delivery of rich content and media. In this new age of information, networks have changed from passive platforms to active participants in the delivery of 21st education, capable of making learning more personalized, equitable, relevant and cost-effective for all students. We must fundamentally rethink schools as networked learning environments that reflect the real world. New delivery models, the new formative assessments embedded in digital instruction and curriculum that is competency-based, not based on seat time, can and will continue to improve outcomes for all students in a highly networked world. Susan Patrick, President and CEO, North American Council for Online Learning

2 All Managed Services Are Not Created Equal Many service providers claim to offer managed services, but the term managed service is uniquely defined by each provider. With ENA, managed service means full service. Because we view networks as a mission-critical utility rather than a basic infrastructure, we do not offer generic services that can be adapted to education and libraries. Instead, we design our services from the ground up to specifically meet the needs of education and libraries. Check out what ENA means by full service and then compare our managed service offering with your provider s to understand why we say Service is the Solution. 1 Continuous Technology Improvement. ENA supplies, configures, installs, manages, maintains and monitors all circuits and customer premises equipment (CPE) for the life of your contract with ENA. 2 Cost-Effectiveness. ENA serves as your single point of contact and accountability, working with multiple communication and equipment providers on your behalf and maximizing your E-Rate funding, saving you both money and time. Our managed service typically costs less and delivers more, providing a higher quality of service E-Rate Experience and Expertise. ENA is one of the top 10 national E-Rate service providers. We assist you with every step of the E-Rate process, providing ongoing guidance, training and support to ensure compliance with all E-Rate regulations. Personalized, Dedicated Account Service. Every ENA customer is assigned an Account Service Manager who builds face-to-face rapport with you and works to understand your unique goals and needs. 24x7x365 Network Monitoring and Proactive Notification. All calls to the ENA Network Operations Center (NOC) are answered by a live person in the U.S. with experience in education, network operations and problem resolution. With our proactive network monitoring tools, ENA is able to contact our customers in advance of their call to alert them of a service issue over 90 percent of the time. Emphasis on Security. Our multi-level, integrated security approach incorporates fully hosted firewall services, customizable CIPA- and First Amendmentcompliant content filtering, and application-level screens to contain any virus outbreaks and other vulnerabilities that might affect either the local LAN or the overall health of the network. ENA s Internet Access Network Backbone. The Tier-1 ENA network is a private, MPLS-based, secure regional network that exchanges traffic with multiple global carriers, connects to multiple Internet peering points as well as research and education networks such as Internet2, and includes in-network content hosting and Quality of Service (QoS). Around-the-Clock Support Tools. With ENA s online Service Center Tools, authorized users have always-on visibility into the network and can monitor the real-time status of the network, review bandwidth utilization, open new service tickets and track progress toward resolution of existing service tickets. Commitment to Education. No service provider is more engaged in the education community than ENA. Our active involvement with state, regional and national associations and initiatives such as the Partnership for 21st Century Skills and the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) help us keep abreast of important education trends, share key information with our customers, bring new technologies to market and take an active thought leadership role in education. Beyond Bandwidth. ENA is constantly developing and bringing to our customers innovative products and services such as voice solutions. Over our service history, we have developed and deployed products and services to meet the changing needs of our customers.

3 Total Cost of Ownership: Doing More With Less The total costs of a self-managed approach to network design, deployment and management over a lifetime of service are typically underestimated. Contracts offered by other service providers typically only include the cost of providing specific services such as the circuit, omitting the necessary costs associated with hardware, staffing, network monitoring, service support and the expertise to enable a reliable, flexible and scalable network. ENA s solutions are turn-key with no hidden costs. We are responsible for end-to-end connectivity from every site to the Internet, including: providing any required customer premises equipment (CPE) to connect to the site s LAN, procuring connectivity from the school from a variety of providers, ensuring effective security for all connected sites, and providing integrated Help Desk and trouble management services. All of these services are bundled into one costeffective solution that is eligible for E-Rate Priority 1 funding. Our Orange County Public Schools, Florida, case study emphasizes our Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) advantage. Costs Reduced 1 Year 5 Years Orange County Public Schools, FL... $1 Million... $5.1 Million Quality Improved Orange County Public Schools, FL... Increased Network Uptime to % Service Requests Reduced 54% Sixfold Increase in Bandwidth Over 2 Gbps to Internet Scalable to 10 Gbps You re in Control: Full Visibility Into Your Network Performance The people, the process, the tools everything that was necessary to make our Managed Broadband Internet Access project a success they all came together. Myron Bryant, Assistant Director of Network Services, Orange County Public Schools, FL Although ENA monitors and manages its customers networks with diligent constancy, every customer is fully empowered to observe network performance themselves. Using the Service Center Tools accessible only to authorized users at ENA s Web site, customers are in the driver s seat of their network. The Service Center offers atyour-fingertips, around-theclock data to help you stay abreast of network health, issues and resolution progress. ENA s Network Monitoring Tool checks each device on the network on 5-minute intervals, alerting the NOC whenever problems arise. The tool s interface allows customers to personally identify and isolate network problems. All incidents, whether determined by the Network Monitoring Tool, customer site visits or customer contact, are tracked in ENA s Remedy -based Ticket Tracker system. With it, authorized users can open new tickets, update existing tickets and view up-tothe-minute information on what ENA is doing to rectify any issues.

4 What Customers Say: Value They Can t Afford to Ignore ENA recently designed and installed a new district-wide managed high-speed broadband Internet network for Orange County Public Schools, Florida, the eleventh-largest school system in the U.S. In its first year, bandwidth increased nearly sixfold, debilitating bottlenecks disappeared, network uptime improved, service requests decreased and the district identified over $5.1 million in savings for the five-year life of the contract. According to George Perreault, the district s director of Instruction Technology & Library Media Services, the network is absolutely a model for other schools across the country. A smaller-district ENA customer, Marion Community Schools, Indiana, has also done the analysis. We re saving about $40,000 a year on firewall and content filtering alone, says Technology Systems Supervisor Brian Witherow. And that s just software and doesn t include hardware and manpower. Not only are ENA s services great, but we just couldn t afford this if we did it ourselves or shopped each portion out. That s the beauty of a managed network service. Time to Concentrate on the More Important Things ENA s approach capitalizes on the combined strengths of our expertise, resources and partners to offer speed, reliability, scalability, best-of-breed technologies and continuous network upgrades to our customers. Our solutions increase access to online information, facilitate collaboration, increase productivity and decrease the costs of information management all while assisting in making education personalized, equitable, relevant and cost-effective. Empowered by their managed networks, our customers find that they no longer have to commit as much time and resources to network operations and troubleshooting, allowing them to focus on what matters most: preparing students to succeed in school, work and life in the 21st century. A lot of times, when service providers approach educators, they ll lay out a product created for the market at large and say, Here, adopt this. With ENA, it s the reverse of that. Theirs isn t a basic service that s been retro-adapted for education. ENA s is a product that s been developed expressly for education. We re not a part of their market. We are their market. George Tachtiris, Director of Technology, Crown Point School Corporation, Indiana The ENA team is our greatest asset! We could have the best equipment and people in the world (and we do), but without a solid backbone it would not mean much. We would have a great deal of difficulty keeping our network running without ENA s expertise and help with diagnosing and repairing problems. Larry Jones, Lead Technician/ Network Administrator, Greeneville City Schools, TN Phillip Folmar, network systems manager for Williamson County Public Schools, Tennessee, and his staff used to manage their own network. But they couldn t do it better, or cheaper, than ENA. And more importantly, now they don t have to do it at all. Today, his staff is free to concentrate on projects for the classroom. We couldn t be happier, says Folmar. ENA has provided our district with the kind of service and support that we d expect from our own employees.

5 ENA Services Matrix Building the Foundation for 21st Century Education Delivery ENA is a leading provider of managed network and communication services. We offer end-to-end network connectivity, innovative voice solutions and a host of additional services designed to accelerate and optimize the use of technology. Our scaleable technology solutions increase access to online information, facilitate communication and collaboration, increase productivity and decrease the costs of information management through the convergence of data, voice and video technologies. IP Convergence Managed Data Services High-Speed Connectivity Carrier/Circuit Management End Site Equipment and Management Web-Based Trouble and Network Management Tools Internet2/NLR Connectivity Managed Voice Solutions ENA Connect (Hosted PBX) Dialtone Connect (Analog or PRI Handoff for PBX or Key Systems) IP Dialtone Connect (IP Handoff to IP-Enabled PBX) Toll-Free Connect 24/7 Help Desk and Field Service Video Over IP Support Video Conferencing Distance Learning Video on Demand Network Acceleration Caching Core Network Caching End Site/Edge Caching Traffic Management Quality of Service (QoS) Traffic Prioritization Network Optimization In-Network Content Hosting Extensive Peering High-Capacity Core Education and Research Network Peering Application Tools Professional Development Social Networking Web 2.0 Webinar Series Technology Integration Faculty and Staff Students Archiving Educational Content Learn360 Video Content nettrekker d. i. BrainPOP, BrainPOP Jr. and BrainPOP Español Safety & Security Firewall Services Fully Hosted Managed Customer Premises Equipment Filtering Services Customizable Web Content Filtering Spam/Anti-Virus Filtering Protection Services Archiving and Search/ Discovery Services

6 Contact us today! Call ENA today to discover why Service is the Solution! General Inquiries Support About ENA ENA is a leading managed network service provider in the design, deployment and management of network and communication services for school systems, libraries and governments. In 1996, ENA created one of the first statewide K-12 networks in the U.S. and has earned a reputation as experts in distributed networks and voice solutions. Today, ENA manages multiple statewide and district-wide education and library networks, successfully serving over 450 school districts, 2.2 million students, educators and administrators, and over 300 libraries. For more information, please visit Education Networks of America, Inc.