BACK ISSUES: Select One: View All --------- | -- 2002 -- | April | -- 2001 -- | Oct/Nov Aug/Sept June/July April/May March Jan/Feb | -- 2000 -- | December Oct/Nov September July/August June May April March February January | -- 1999 -- | December November October September July/August June May April March February January | -- 1998 -- | December November October September July/August June May April March February January | -- 1997 -- | December November

Volume 2 Issue 1January 1998

Teamwork Key to 4CNet Project's Success

Edwin W. Smith
Project Manager, Spectrum Telecom Systems

To paraphrase what others have said before me, large scale efforts don't just happen, especially successful ones. Rather, such successful efforts are the by-product of careful planning and teamwork. Trite as that may sound (and perhaps somewhat self-serving given my role as the 4CNet Logistics Manager) the addition of 125 California Community College (CCC) sites to the existing CSUnet could not have just happened without careful planning and exceptional teamwork.

Historically, CSUnet was the network that served the 23 California State University (CSU) campuses, along with some K-12 schools and districts, County Offices of Education, and other public entities. CSUnet, with the addition of 71 California Community College districts, is now known as 4CNet (http://www.4c.net). The network will serve approximately 1,800,000 post-secondary students, plus faculty and staff for both institutions throughout the state. The CCC addition to the network as a project began in November 1996. The actual installation schedule commenced on April 1, 1997 and was completed in December 1997. This aggressive installation schedule required the exceptional teamwork among numerous players.

The implementation of 4CNet was accomplished by members of the Telecommunications Infrastructure Support Services (TISS) in the Information Resources & Technology (IRT) department of the CSU Chancellor's Office in Los Alamitos. Project management was provided by Spectrum Telecom Systems, with additional support functions from the office of the Dean of Technology & Communications in the CCC Chancellor's Office.

The project teams in the CSU Chancellor's Office responsible for the implementation of 4CNet included the Network Planning & Development Team, Project Management Team, Customer Services Support Team, Engineering & Configuration Management Team, and Network Facilities & Services Team.

This project could also not have progressed as scheduled without the efforts and ongoing cooperation from both administrators and technical folks at the new subscribing Community College campuses and District offices, and the staff at the CSU Routing Hubs and Backbone Nodes of CSU Chico, Sacramento, Stanislaus, San Francisco, Hayward, Monterey Bay, Fresno, Bakersfield, San Luis Obispo, Fullerton, San Marcos, and San Diego.

Of course, this brief overview of the project teams doesn't begin to address the considerable detail, processes, procedures, and frustrations we had to contend with, not to mention various activities and events beyond our control or sphere of influence. However, all of that seems unimportant now that the relatively small staffs from two of the largest institutions of higher education built one of the largest IP networks in the country. Congratulations to all involved for a job well done!