PUBLIC INTERNET SERVICE BUSINESS CASE
<PUBLIC-OPEN INTERNET SERVICE>
TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................................. 1
1.
Problem Definition ......................................................................................................................................... 2
2.
Addressing Problem with CWU existing tools and products (i.e. PeopleSoft) ................................................. 2
3.
Organizational Impact .................................................................................................................................... 3
4.
Benefits .......................................................................................................................................................... 3
5.
Strategic Alignment ........................................................................................................................................ 3
6.
Cost ................................................................................................................................................................ 4
7.
Alternatives (add lines as necessary) .............................................................................................................. 4
8.
Timing / Schedule (add lines as necessary) ..................................................................................................... 4
9.
Technology Migration/Resource Identification .............................................................................................. 5
10. Product Life/Application Sunsetting or Decommissioning ............................................................................. 5
11. References .................................................................................................................................................... 5
12. Recommendation .......................................................................................................................................... 6
13. Approvals ...................................................................................................................................................... 6
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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Central Washington University has numerous visitors and guests visiting the University annually.
These guests include prospective students, their parents and relatives, conference attendees, visiting
faculty, potential employees, business contacts and vendors, visiting athletes, alumni, potential
donors, general public, and many more. In today’s environment, these guests to the University need
ubiquitous wireless Internet connectivity, as would be available at many retail locations, to stay
connected, receive/send email, visit the web, and much more.
CWU, as an institution of Higher Education, is governed by many regulations and acts which limit or
prohibit our ability to provide open/public wifi which does not require the user to attain guest
credentials. However, other Internet Service Providers (ISP) can provide open/public wifi without
many of the same restrictions, or they already have the technology deployed to meet the strict
requirements of these regulations.
As a result, CWU is looking to partner with a major/public ISP to provide open/public wifi across the
University, while still meeting the regulatory requirements.
Sponsoring Department(s):
President’s Office, Information Technology Services
Date of Business Case Preparation:
September 13, 2013
Contact Person Name/Phone: Carmen A. Rahm (ext. 2925) or Noah Rodriguez (ext. 2934)
New Product/Service
If there is a draft or sample contract, please provide a copy.
Renewal of Existing Product/Service – if checked, include background information.
If there is a site license agreement, existing contract or new contract draft, please provide a
copy.
1. Problem Definition
CWU has numerous visitors to the campus annually. These include prospective students,
prospective employees, parents, relatives, visiting faculty, donors, alumni, and many others.
These guests of the University expect and require wireless Internet access so that they can
remain connected for email, web access, etc. This is an expectation in today’s BYOD and
mobile environments.
2.
Addressing Problem with CWU existing tools and products (i.e. PeopleSoft)
For CWU to provide this service (utilize our Secure network IDs, utilize our IP addressing and
domain, etc.) we must comply with several laws and regulations such as CALEA, HEOA, etc.
To do so, at a minimum, requires that all users of our network connecting to the Internet
have unique credentials.
OPTION 1 (Currently Deployed Option): Public Wifi is currently being achieved at CWU by
having the users connect to our GUEST Network, enter their name and mobile device #, and
have a unique user name and a 4 digit PIN text-messaged to them. This is currently
operational but requires a few additional steps to get access.
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OPTION 2: CWU could provide open (unauthenticated) wifi without requiring the users to
receive unique credentials, but this would violate several of the regulatory requirements.
This is not considered to be an acceptable solution.
OPTION3 (Proposed Solution): Utilize a 3rd party ISP to connect/interface to the CWU wifi
infrastructure, utilize their SSID and IP addressing, and their domain. This is the option
proposed in this Business Case.
3. Organizational Impact
There is little to no organization impact with this proposal. While all students, faculty and
staff would benefit from using the secure network already provided, everyone on campus
will benefit from 1) the ability to quickly connect to the open/public wifi system, and 2) the
ability to have their friends, visitors and guests connect to the open/public wifi system
without restrictions. It is anticipated that the vast majority of students connecting
wirelessly on campus would connect to the Open/Public wifi instead of connecting to the
secure wifi. This has the potential of reducing calls and visits to the ITS HelpDesk.

All Stakeholders: Anyone visiting CWU who desires to connect to the Internet
wirelessly is a stakeholder and will benefit from this service, even existing students
and others.

Potential Partners/Primary Users: Primary users will be guests to the University
including potential students, parents, relatives, donors, alumni, visiting faculty,
business guests/vendors, meeting attendees, general public, conference and summer
program attendees, and others.

RFP Requirements Contributors (add lines as necessary) – This section may or may
not be required
Department
Name
Information Technology
Services
Carmen Rahm
Vendor Submissions
Charter Communications and Ednetics, Inc.
4. Benefits
CWU will benefit from this service in many ways. It will provide a needed and expected
resource to prospective students, their guests, parents, etc. It will also provide a valuable
resource for business efficiency when vendors, guest faculty and others associated with the
University need quick web/Internet access but do not require secure and full Guest Access.
It will be a value added service for conference and camp attendees at the University, and
can be used as a “marketing” tool. It would be possible to have users initially connect to a
“splashpage” promoting the University or scheduled activities.
5. Strategic Alignment This Business Case supports several of the goals of the CWU
Strategic Plan. Some of the specific goals and outcomes supported by this proposal
include:
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

4.0: Public Service and Community Engagement
5.4: Provide the technology infrastructure and services appropriate to meet the University Objectives.
http://www.cwu.edu/resources-reports/sites/cts.cwu.edu.resourcesreports/files/documents/2012%20CWU%20Strategic%20Plan.pdf
6. Cost

Source of Funding (Project ID) or Description of the Source of Funding. The source of
the funding to pay for this service has not yet been identified. If this is determined to be
an acceptable proposal, and is approved for implementation, funding will need to be
identified at that time.

Cost Breakdown
o
o
o
One-Time Costs: Vendor and CWU estimated one-time costs:
$2500
Recurring Annual Costs: Bandwidth (250M) & Management
$55,000
ESTIMATED 5-Year Cost:
$277,500*
* Estimated is based on vendor proposals (based on an RFI) for providing 250M of Open/Public
service to be used by anyone that connects to the network.
7. Alternatives (add lines as necessary)
Alternative
Reasons For Not Selecting Alternative
Open Wifi Provided by CWU
May Violate several laws and regulations
Guest with SMS Credential (Current)
Less convenient to access.
8. Timing / Schedule (add lines as necessary)
Task
Target Date
Project Initiation/Contract
1 week
Project Planning and Review
2 weeks
Final Design/Approval
1 week
Implementation
5 weeks
Testing and Go-Live
1 week
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9. Technology Migration/Resource Identification
Installation of the Public/Open Wifi utilizing a 3rd party, will require that vendor to establish
connectivity at our Data Center. Utilizing a combination of equipment provided by the
vendor and the University, they will connect to the CWU network and utilize our Wifi
infrastructure, their SSID and their IP addressing/domain.
Resource
Personnel
Equipment
Facilities
Requirements
Timeframe
For sake of planning, this assumes that the project will start in January of a specific year. Maintenance
and support beyond assisting with the initial setup of this service will be the responsibility of the service
provider, and all costs are covered in their monthly bandwidth and service fee!
Resource
Jan
Feb
LAN Engineer
10
20
Total Hours
10
20
Mar
Apr
May
June
July
Aug
Sept
Oct
Nov
Dec
Project Manager
Business Analyst
Snr. Programmer
Tester Manager
Database Admin
Test Manager
Technical Writer
Training Manager
Configuration Mgr
10. Product Life/Application Sunsetting or Decommissioning
While this service can be extended indefinitely with the agreement of both parties, the prices
quoted by vendors are based on an estimated bandwidth need of 250M and a 3 year
commitment.
11. References
Information was gathered from the following potential vendors:


Charter Business: Jill Stark, President
Ednetics, Inc.
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12. Recommendation:
Implement OPEN/PUBLIC Wifi for visitors and guests of the University.
13. Approvals
The following actions have been taken by the appropriate Sub-Council (ATAC or NonAcademic Sub-Council) and University Enterprise Team:
Date
Action
By
09/30/2013
Presented to EISC
Noah Rodriquez
09/30/2013
Approved for Review by Cabinet
EISC
Upon approval by the Enterprise Team (ET) or one of the two Sub-Councils (Academic or NonAcademic), CWU procurement policies and procedures should be used to initiate a purchase.
Please contact the Purchasing office at x1001 with any questions regarding the procurement
process.
If you have any questions, please contact Sue Noce 963-2927 or Tina Short 963-2910.
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