Procurement

Internet2 and E&I to Collaborate on Cloud Services Contracts

• By Rhea Kelly
• 10/01/19

Internet2 and E&I Cooperative Services have announced a pilot project aimed at providing U.S. higher education institutions with competitively solicited contracts for cloud services. The project is the "first step in evaluating how we can leverage E&I's expertise in competitive procurement and contract management, and Internet2's deep technical experience to develop competitively solicited cloud contracts for our collective members," an E&I blog post explained.

The pilot will kick off with a request for proposals for cloud-hosted telecommunications and web conferencing services. Work on the RFP is currently in progress by members of E&I and Internet2 as well as representatives from the two organization. While the services will not be an Internet2 NET+ solution, "both the development of the RFP specifications and the review of the RFP responses utilize standards and processes developed as part of the NET+ service evaluation process," the blog post stated. The result will be a "competitively solicited contract issued by E&I Cooperative Services" that will be "easily used by our collective membership."

In addition, the two organizations plan to use the pilot "learn more about the differences between E&I and Internet2's processes, determine best ways to work together, and test the market for future RFPs."

"E&I has been working with Internet2 for the past two years to combine our unique and core competencies in procurement and technology to bring the best technology contracts to our collective membership," said Keith Fowlkes, vice president of technology at E&I, in a statement. "As institutional technology requirements continue to evolve and scale, the challenges placed on higher education technology leaders have become ever more complex. Working in strategic collaboration with Internet2, E&I will continue to bring competitively solicited enterprise technology contracts to our collective membership. Ultimately, we expect this pilot project to provide CIOs, CTOs and CPOs with greater confidence, choice and flexibility in their institutional technology buying."