Data Center Network Refresh

The University of Kansas is seeking a qualified vendor to provide a turn-key deployment of a modern, resilient, and scalable infrastructure data center network at its Lawrence, KS, campus. The project includes design consulting, hardware, software, implementation, and training services. The goal is to simplify the architecture, enhance system stability and redundancy, increase speed and throughput, and enable automation for more efficient operations. Key responsibilities include providing a dedicated project manager, conducting a comprehensive audit of the current data center network, and delivering comprehensive post-installation support and documentation. The project timeline includes milestones such as design completion, equipment installation, and production services cut over to the new architecture. • The project requires a modernized data center approach with a redundant architecture that enables in-service software upgrades without disrupting data center network services. • The vendor should provide a layer 2 solution, as routing for data center networks will be handled by the existing data center firewall solution. • The project includes a pre-proposal conference, which is not required but strongly encouraged. • The vendor should provide a detailed project timeline with milestones and regular status updates. • The project requires compliance with relevant standards, such as TIA-942, ISO/IEC 27001, and NIST. • The vendor should provide a clear plan for risk mitigation, including staged cutover plans and testing milestones.