SPRING 2019
 
Thorson joins iFiber Management Team

Marc Thorson has been named Executive Director for Regional Technology Services in Northern Illinois University's Division of Information Technology (DoIT).  He oversees all aspects of NIU's broadband, Internet service, and technology service offerings to communities, school districts, and other government and nonprofits organizations.   

Prior to joining NIU, Marc worked in the local government Information Technology field in just about every capacity for over 20 years including desktop support, application developer, network administrator, network engineer, compliance lead and director. He is passionate about Information Security and data-driven decision making in environments with resource challenges.


Marc is also an adjunct instructor for the nationally-ranked NIU Master of Public Administration program. The course focus is educating future local government and nonprofit leadership on what Information Technology does, why it is a critical competency for public organizations, and how to utilize it to its greatest potential in an era of shrinking budgets.
Marc has a Master of Business Administration from NIU with a focus on Management of Information Services and Marketing. He is the Marketing Director GMIS International, Committee Chairperson for GMIS Accreditation, and Past President for GMIS Illinois.
About iFiber 
       iFiber Board & Team Builds Network 

Illinois Fiber Resources Group (iFiber) is a collaboration of representatives from Northern Illinois University (NIU), LaSalle County, North Central Illinois Council of Governments, the City of Rockford, Boone County, and Blackhawk Hills Regional Council. In September 2010, grant-lead NIU received a federal Broadband Technology Opportunities Program grant to deploy an almost 900-mile network across northwest Illinois. The grant portion of the project was completed in December of 2013, and iFiber continues to build out the Network. Primary counties served are Boone, Carroll, JoDaviess, LaSalle, Lee, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside and Winnebago. iFiber's high-speed broadband network is helping to map the future of the greater northern Illinois region, as recent developments have expanded the iFiber Network. To learn more about the iFiber team including photos and bios of the board and management team, visit www.ifiber.org.
When you combine DataPoint's Co-Location Center with the iFiber Network your business moves at the speed of light!
 
iFiber is proud to announce an important partnership with Data Point Co-Location Center in Rockford! Special rates are being offered now -  more details and a printable PDF are available on the iFiber website.

DataPoint Co-Location Center offers Industry Leading Services:
Business Security & Recovery Solutions; Data Protection - Media Vaulting; Co-Location of Customer IT Equipment; ALL Inclusive: DRaaS Appliance & Cloud Backup Services; Secure IT Asset Disposal Services and much more!

For speed, capacity and resiliency rely on the iFiber Network:   iFiber is part of 900 miles of fiber optics running underground throughout northern Illinois. iFiber's ultra-high speed and ultra-low latency network connectivity is capable of delivering business traffic at the speed of light and provides a superior choice at DataPoint-Rockford. As part of iFiber's partnership with DataPoint Co-Location Center, Community Anchor SPECIAL PRICING is being offered, good through October 2019!

John Petrakis
Spotlight on iFiber Service Providers
iFiber works with a variety of trusted Service Provider partners to promote high-speed network transport services to businesses and industries in the private sector. This quarterly e-newsletter will regularly feature those partners. 
Stratus Networks
Stratus Networks values strong connections both online and offline. Its focus is on giving iFiber customers the best connection possible. Stratus serves all counties in the iFiber region. Featured services include: Private Network, Internet, VoIP, Cloud Services, IT consulting and more. According to John Petrakis, President and co-CEO, Stratus Networks has spent the last 20 years bringing world-class technology, services and customer service to organizations locally, nationally and internationally. Petrakis said the partnership with iFiber is the right fit for Stratus because "iFiber has done it the right way. We partner with many of the BTOP organizations across the country including everyone in Illinois. ONLY iFiber got it right and has enabled companies like Stratus to bring services to the region that before was underserved."  Read the full story  
E-Rate Resources
     Important information about E-Rate

E-Rate is a program of USAC that gives funding to schools and libraries through an open bidding process. USAC, or the Universal Services Administrative Company, is an entity designated by the Federal Communications Commission responsible for administering a roughly $10 billion fund that can be used to pay for Internet connections within impoverished regions, whether rural or urban. Eligible schools and libraries may receive discounts ranging from 20-90 percent on telecommunication services, depending on economic need and location. In Illinois, the Illinois Department of Central Management Services (CMS) has entered into state master contracts with vendors to support ICN customers for their E-rate category 2 purchases. The original RFP was made available via an E-rate form 470 thus allowing schools and libraries that are ICN customers to order from the state master contracts directly without having to issue an E-rate form 470. The state has already conducted a competitive bidding process and selected vendors. Additional information is available on the iFiber website.
Are you Registered with NIMC?
   Northern Illinois Monitoring Center part of iFiber Service

Northern Illinois Monitoring Center (NIMC) is designed to provide wide-area support for iFiber Community Anchor Institution network administrators registered with NIMC to access services. For internal problems, contact the network support staff within your organization. For broadband network support issues or to inquire about trouble tickets, call NIMC's Service Desk at 877-753-8100. For billing support, change or installation orders, contact: 877-753-8100.  Network Administrators: Register your organization's authorized administrators at 877-753-8100. 

 

Sign up for e-mail alerts for advance notice about maintenance on the iFiber network or notification of a network down at  www.nimc.niu.edu