U.S. Virgin Islands Project

RMS was contracted to establish an infrastructure connecting all 75 government agency locations on the three U.S. Virgin Islands. The goal for these agencies was to create an infrastructure with access to a centrally based financial management information system, LAN based print and file services at each location, both internal and Internet E-mail services, remote access to the network, and the capability of managing the network down to the PC desktop from either the central location or a remote site.

The first step was for RMS to apply their proven methodology to define current and future requirements. The Virgin Island government was operating under IDC's DILOG suite of applications designed for managing local government. RMS developed a conceptual network design and a list of hardware, software, and WAN alternatives to achieve the identified goals. After selecting the appropriate network components, detail layouts of the LAN/WAN infrastructure, IP mapping, server configurations, desktop configurations and management processes were developed. These documents were then used to configure, implement, and test the network.

After consideration of the WAN options, we determined that each island would have a central Hub. All remote sites on that island are now connected to the designated central Hub facility. Each island is connected via a high-speed backbone. Network, WAN and system administration was accomplished using HP OpenView Professional Suite and Cisco Works.

The customized design and implementation of this infrastructure allows the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands to operate in a highly enhanced computing environment. These enhancements include:

• Increased efficiency by establishing E-mail notification of purchase orders awaiting processing (using DILOG).
• Communication via E-mail rather than just relying on telephone lines and postal services.
• An internal Web server to expedite the posting of information that needs to reach all government employees.
• Elimination of long delays at the fax machines by allowing end-users to fax documents directly from their desktops.
• Management tools, along with the NT domain structure, allow for the centralized management of the entire network. This provides the government with the ability to load and/or update software, facilitate virus protection, and monitor and manage the infrastructure.