Network Modernization

Concept

The partner runs a public school network spanning hundreds of campuses and serving more than 520,000 students, with a technology estate covering everything from classroom connectivity to campus security.

Requirement

Aging, end-of-life network infrastructure had to be replaced across a footprint of several hundred square miles. The constraint was not the engineering. It was that hundreds of schools had to stay operational throughout the upgrade, so the work had to run alongside the school calendar rather than around it.

Approach

The engagement ran as integrated project delivery rather than a staffing arrangement, owning the entire modernization lifecycle across concurrent campus projects.

More than 170 infrastructure professionals were deployed, including over 50 project managers and more than 40 network engineers, working to a governance model that tracked schedule in real time across every site at once.

The program ran in phases. Phase 1 from 2021 covered 260+ sites, 446 schools and 170,000+ students. Phase 2 in 2024 reached 340+ sites, 600+ schools and 200,000+ students. Phase 3, running 2025 to 2029, adds roughly 200 further K–12 sites.

In 2025 the relationship expanded again: selected from more than 50 competing firms as one of only three vendors awarded across all eleven IT specializations, on a bench running 2026 to 2030.

Delivery scope

• Program and project management
• Network engineering and configuration
• Low-voltage systems installation and integration
• Infrastructure design and CAD documentation
• Site surveys, scoping and technical documentation
• System commissioning and project closeout
• Cost estimation and schedule governance

Systems modernized

• Local area networks and wireless
• Voice over IP and IP public address
• Video surveillance
• Intrusion detection and security systems
• Radio and secure communications infrastructure
• Fiber and structured cabling

Results

• 600+ schools modernized, 520,000+ students served
• Concurrent modernization across dozens of campuses at once, minimizing disruption to teaching
• LAN, WLAN, VoIP, surveillance and communications moved to modern IP-based platforms
• Bandwidth, wireless coverage and system reliability improved district-wide
• Structured program governance with real-time schedule tracking across all sites
• Converged infrastructure integrated into a single technology ecosystem

Key technologies: Cisco, Aruba, Genetec, Avaya, Cisco Call Manager, Cisco Unity, VoIP, IP-CCTV, structured cabling, fiber, Microsoft Project.