ANN ARBOR – Merit Network and Internet2 announced Tuesday the launch of participation in the Internet2 NET+ Regional Partner Program for members of CENIC, the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California.
Eligible CENIC Members now have the opportunity to purchase a diverse suite of Internet2 NET+ Services from leading brands at best-in-class pricing through Merit.
CENIC, Merit and Internet2 made the announcement on the campus of Sonoma State University, host of CENIC’s 2014 Annual Conference. This comes after Merit became the first Research and Education (R&E) Network to participate in the NET+ Regional Partner Program and offer Internet2 NET+ Services to its Members in Michigan.
The Internet2 NET+ initiative is about creating and sustaining value for the research and educational community in their use of cloud services. By establishing a unified, integrated portfolio of cloud and trust solutions, blending both commercial services and community offerings, Internet2 makes these available via the advanced Internet2 Network. This allows Internet2 to support an individual to quickly and easily log into a cloud service using their campus’s assigned identity using Internet2’s Trust and Identity services.
“This partnership serves as a great example for other regionals to work together to extend the Internet2 NET+ program to reach the entire non-profit research and education community,” said Shelton Waggener, senior vice president, Internet2. “This arrangement with Merit and CENIC launches a new stage in furthering the vision of the Internet2 community transforming education from kindergarten to higher education.”
Through the NET+ Regional Partner Program, select Internet2 NET+ Services, which were previously only available to Internet2 member institutions, are now available to eligible members of participating NET+ Regional Partners, like Merit and CENIC.
A key value Merit brings to the NET+ Regional Partner Program is its existing infrastructure devoted to IT services sales and support. An evolving process, Merit has participated in the development and deployment of services for its Membership for the better part of the past decade. Merit currently has technical and administrative resources internally to support deployment of Internet2 NET+ Services. The more organizations that are able to leverage those resources, the more cost-effective the program will be.
The NET+ Services available through the Regional Partner Program support the teaching, learning, research and operational needs of CENIC and Merit Members.
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