NETWORKS

Merit Network and Internet2 have launched participation in the Internet2 NET+ Regional Partner Program for members of CENIC, the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California. Eligible CENIC Members now have the opportunity to purchase a diverse suite of Internet2 NET+ Services from leading brands at best-in-class pricing through Merit.

CENIC, Merit and Internet2 made the announcement on the campus of Sonoma State University, host of CENIC's 2014 Annual Conference. This comes after Merit became the first Research and Education (R&E) Network to participate in the NET+ Regional Partner Program and offer Internet2 NET+ Services to its Members in Michigan.

The Internet2 NET+ initiative is about creating and sustaining value for the research and educational community in their use of cloud services. By establishing a unified, integrated portfolio of cloud and trust solutions, blending both commercial services and community offerings, Internet2 makes these available via the advanced Internet2 Network. This allows Internet2 to support an individual to quickly and easily log into a cloud service using their campus's assigned identity using Internet2's Trust and Identity services.  

"This partnership serves as a great example for other regionals to work together to extend the Internet2 NET+ program to reach the entire non-profit research and education community, " said Shelton Waggener, senior vice president, Internet2. "This arrangement with Merit and CENIC launches a new stage in furthering the vision of the Internet2 community transforming education from kindergarten to higher education. "

Through the NET+ Regional Partner Program, select Internet2 NET+ Services, which were previously only available to Internet2 member institutions, are now available to eligible members of participating NET+ Regional Partners, like Merit and CENIC.

"I am proud to announce this innovative partnership between Merit, CENIC and Internet2. It will deliver considerable benefits for CENIC Members, providing access to a broad portfolio of cloud services available to their community at discounted rates. The participation of CENIC will benefit institutions in California and Michigan as well-and potentially many more R&E members nationwide. Leveraging economies of scale is critical to the success of initiatives like the NET+ Regional Partner Program. Merit has the existing infrastructure and resources in place to serve members of other R&E networks. We believe that the more members of the education and non-profit community we can help benefit from this program, the better off we will all be," said Don Welch, president and CEO, Merit Network.

"We at CENIC are pleased and excited to be working with Merit to offer Internet2 NET+ Services to our Community Colleges and the K12 schools," said Louis Fox, president and CEO, CENIC.

A key value Merit brings to the NET+ Regional Partner Program is its existing infrastructure devoted to IT services sales and support.  An evolving process, Merit has participated in the development and deployment of services for its Membership for the better part of the past decade.  Merit currently has technical and administrative resources internally to support deployment of Internet2 NET+ Services. The more organizations that are able to leverage those resources, the more cost-effective the program will be.

The NET+ Services available through the Regional Partner Program support the teaching, learning, research and operational needs of Merit and CENIC Members. The following services are available today for CENIC and Merit Member educational institutions:

Box                        CrashPlan PROe        Fuzebox

These additional NET+ Internet2 services and targeted for future availability to CENIC and Merit Members based on expressed interest include:

Splunk                        Duracloud                Office 365 Education

Eduroam                BlueJeans                Globus

The NET+ Initiative strives to ensure that all NET+ Services are easily accessible and simple to administer.  This is secured through national partnerships with special business terms.  Services are turnkey ready, with pre-negotiated SLAs (service level agreements that save participating institutions administrative time and resources.

With NET+ Services, institutions benefit from connections throughout the education and non-profit community for more efficient, effective solutions. Internet2 NET+ Services are identified, evaluated and vetted by Internet2 member institutions.  Each service is backed by an advisory group made up of peer institutions that assist with service implementation, troubleshooting and provide ongoing support.

CENIC Members interested in purchasing services through the Internet2 NET+ Regional Partner Program should contact a member of the Merit Sales Team.  Send an email to sales@merit.edu or call 734-527-5785.