1. Florida State Board of Education Florida Information Resource Network (FIRN) Status Report March 18, 2003 Tallahassee, Florida Ruben Lopez Chief Technology Officer Florida Department of Education

2. Last Five Years 1998-2003 u Grew from 20 to 44 employees at a cost of $1.2M u 33% of schools connected through Districts LANs – Today 94% connected through District LANs u Increasing non-core services – dial-up services at a cost over $1M u 10% decrease in budget $6.17M to $5.7M u Only a 40% increase in e-Rate to make up the budget deficit

3. Problems Faced Today u Reducing current debt and negative budget operations u Dismantling of old network ideas and practices u Increasing services and customer satisfaction u Network assessment by Cisco, CEPRI and others

4. Available Options u Stop providing services and data collection ability to the DOE u Find other funding sources to fix the problems.

5. Solution u FIRN Services Sourcing u Adding value to services by Service Levels Agreement (SLA) u Improving Customer Satisfaction and connection speed u Increasing e-Rate funding to the State by 300% u Reducing the State cost per K-20 students to under $1.25/student/year

6. FIRNs Current Status u Contract Awarded – January 16, 2003 u Hayes e-Government Resources u Transition Period u Starts on February 3, 2003 through June 30, 2003

7. Project Timeline u Phase I - January 2003 – June 2003 u 6 Stages u Phase II – July 2003 – July 2003 u Full implementation u Phase III – July 2003 – June 2006 u Ongoing Support

8. Scope u Design and implement Bundled/Unbundled Internet Access Services u Make available to any educational entities, partners and programs the ability to purchase from the negotiated network access and services packages

9. Benefits u Increase Bandwidth u Increase Quality of Service u 24X7 u 365 days u Technical Support u Help Desk u Network Monitor

10. Benefits continued u Increase Response Time u Increase E-Rate u Reduce Costs per Students per year u Provide Multiple Protocols Support u Reduce Dial-up Services

11. FIRN 2 Questions and Answers