Project Description :
The Educational & Institutional Cooperative Services (E&I)—a not-for-profit purchasing cooperative serving over 5,500 member institutions including K–12 districts, higher education, and libraries—engaged TSCTI to provide network and infrastructure operational support under a statewide cooperative contract. The objective was to enable member institutions to modernize IT infrastructure, strengthen network security, and streamline operational support while meeting evolving compliance standards and educational technology requirements. With increasing demand for cloud integration, network optimization, virtualization, and endpoint management, E&I required a flexible, high-volume staffing partner capable of supporting multiple school districts and educational organizations simultaneously. Under this engagement, TSCTI acted as the single-source vendor, delivering DOE-compliant IT professionals to drive infrastructure reliability and digital transformation initiatives across New York State. Key Responsibilities and Deliverables · Network Infrastructure Support: Delivered engineers to perform large-scale LAN/WAN upgrades, switch/router deployments, firewall configuration, and wireless optimization across member campuses. · Cloud & Virtualization Enablement: Provided cloud engineers and virtualization experts to assist in server consolidation, virtual machine deployment, and Infrastructure as Code (IaC) automation. · Device & Endpoint Management: Supported secure mobile device management (MDM) policies using Intune and Google Admin Console to streamline management of thousands of student and staff devices. · Quality Assurance & Compliance: Conducted QA testing for network and server deployments, validated post-installation documentation, and ensured compliance with FERPA, NIST, and state data privacy standards. · Operational Continuity: Offered end-user IT support, troubleshooting, and proactive monitoring to ensure minimal disruption during upgrades. |
Project Overview
Client :
Educational & Institutional Cooperative Services (E&I), New York
Customer Type :
Education Cooperative
Duration :
2023- Present
Point of Contact :
Majid Nikfarjam, Program Manager Telephone number:571-259-8151 Email address: majid.nikfarjam@uspto.gov
Positions Filled for Member Institutions
TSCTI deployed resources from its pre-vetted, DOE-aligned talent pool, including:
- Field Project Managers (FPMs): Managed multi-site deployments, coordinated contractor timelines, and ensured project milestones were met.
- Network Engineers: Handled day-to-day network operations, upgrades, and troubleshooting across member school districts.
- Infrastructure Engineers: Implemented server readiness verification, virtualization, and scalable infrastructure deployments.
- Infrastructure as Code (IaC) Engineers: Automated infrastructure provisioning to reduce errors and improve deployment speed.
- MDM & Google Management Engineers: Configured secure device management solutions supporting large-scale device fleets.
- QA Engineers: Validated hardware, cabling, and configurations, ensuring DOE-standard compliance and successful cutovers.
Customer Success Analysts: Acted as the liaison between member schools and technical teams, driving user satisfaction and service adoption.
Delivery Framework and Contracting Model
TSCTI’s support was delivered under a cooperative contract vehicle which enabled:
- Pre-approved labor categories and bill rates under the E&I contract
- Scalable resource delivery across multiple institutions and locations simultaneously
- Streamlined onboarding processes including PETS pre-registration, fingerprinting coordination, and Cybershift readiness (where applicable)
Centralized governance and decentralized execution, allowing each institution autonomy while benefiting from shared service models
Tools and Technologies Used
- Network Infrastructure: Cisco Catalyst & Meraki, Aruba, HP ProCurve
- Monitoring & QA: NICE Systems, SolarWinds, Power BI
- Server & Virtualization: Windows Server Core, Hyper-V, Linux (RedHat), Active Directory
- Project Delivery: Agile/Scrum, Jira, MS Project
Security & Compliance: NIST frameworks, FERPA/NYS Data Privacy Laws
Outcomes and Value Delivered
- Supported 30+ member institutions in executing critical network and infrastructure upgrades without the need for individual RFPs.
- Achieved 100% SLA compliance for candidate onboarding, service delivery, and documentation submission.
- Enabled smaller districts to access enterprise-level expertise, ensuring equitable support statewide.
- Developed a scalable network & infrastructure staffing model, now replicable across other cooperatives and consortiums.
Strengthened operational reliability, supported seamless cloud transitions, and improved the technology experience for both students and educators.
