Cuyahoga County, Ohio, to Upgrade Network Infrastructure

In a move to upgrade county networking services, Cuyahoga county announced today that it has awarded OneCommunity, a local nonprofit dedicated to fostering economic development by leveraging information technology, a five-year contract designed to enhance, expand and maintain the county's existing network services. According to estimates, Cuyahoga county taxpayers should realize a savings exceeding $10 million over a term of the next five years.

Cuyahoga County selected OneCommunity for its ability to bring together a diverse consortium of technology vendors to deliver best-in-class services, including Global Crossing (GLBC), Cisco (CSCO), ICI Networks, certified minority business enterprise Texcel, as well as the Communications Workers of America. Leveraging each organization's strengths, Cuyahoga county and OneCommunity will deliver a network infrastructure that will allow county government the freedom to leverage today's converged network technology solutions.

OneCommunity will ensure the county receives advanced services that include the development, management and optimization of a wide area network (WAN); Voice-over-IP (VoIP), and Internet and wireless services in various county buildings. OneCommunity and Cuyahoga county will also oversee the management of the county-owned private network, and the necessary security and hardware upgrades.

Network enhancements and upgrades will produce significant efficiencies and corresponding cost savings. Specifics include:

• Providing network connectivity to two proposed new county facilities expected to be built over the next few years. After the new Juvenile Justice Center and Detention Center is built and the Emergency Operations Center is completed, the converged networks will increase network speed, provide significant bandwidth to facilitate application sharing, and bring a higher level of security and redundancy.
• Creating and enabling secure video conferencing to geographical gaps, saving taxpayer dollars by enabling video arraignments and reducing transportation challenges in the justice system. Video conferencing will also enable employees in different locations to communicate face-to-face without the need for jJustice center and courthouse and county administration building, thereby increasing the efficiencies of the county's courts and allowing both attorneys and visitors to the justice center to access the Internet from their laptops or provided kiosks.
• Providing mobile county staff with wireless Internet access to their business applications.

"This is a significant, proactive effort to ensure our county facilities are up to date with the latest technology," said Daniel Weaver, director of information services for the county. "We're expanding our converged network, enabling more effective communications and connectivity throughout the county, which will translate into a significant cost savings for taxpayers."

Cuyahoga County has a population of 1,380,696 people across 459 square miles, and is the largest county in the State of Ohio, the 20th largest in the nation. It encompasses 59 municipalities, villages and townships, of which Cleveland is the largest. With an annual income of more than $1.5 billion dollars, and a workforce of 9,423 full-time employees, the county strives for exemplary service and efficiency.