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RUSD plans cybersecurity upgrade through CESA 7 consortium with 24/7 monitoring and managed recovery
Summary
District IT presented a consortium purchase through CESA 7 that adds 24/7 managed monitoring and disaster recovery for endpoints and networks; staff said the consortium quote was substantially less than pursuing the same services outside the consortium and would include active response capabilities.
Racine Unified School District’s technology staff presented a cybersecurity procurement proposal March 3 to acquire endpoint protection plus a managed, 24/7 monitoring and disaster recovery service through a CESA 7 consortium.
IT staff said the current endpoint protection will be replaced or supplemented by the consortium solution, which provides a network operations center that monitors events 24 hours a day, seven days a week and can take action (including isolating systems) and provide managed disaster recovery services. The presenter said the consortium price is lower than the district’s current solution and citing the board packet: the consortium solution was approximately $75,000 cheaper than simply renewing the existing software solution on their own; in one internal quote the presenter compared an approximate $350,000 standalone solution to a consortium quote in the low six figures.
Board members asked about the district’s December–January cyber incident and whether the proposed solution would offer better protection or faster response. IT staff said cybersecurity is an evolving risk and that the consortium’s managed monitoring and active response would improve the district’s ability to react quickly to incidents rather than relying solely on internal alerts. Staff said funding for the purchase will come from the department budget and that the item will be included on the business meeting agenda for formal approval.
No formal action was taken at the work session; administration said it will bring the procurement for approval at the upcoming business meeting.
