Federal law enForcemenT Training cenTerS (FleTc)

CASE STUDY
Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC)
Govplace helps Homeland Security train more law enforcement officers
The FLETC serves around 60,000 students per year as a
joint law enforcement training organization for 90 Federal
agencies. With facilities throughout the United States, the
organization also supports state, local, tribal and international
law enforcement agencies.
The FLETC relies on expert training and technology-based
learning to help satisfy a growing client volume, geographic
spread and—when specialized facilities are not required—
an option for web-based instruction.
Business Situation
Glynco is the headquarters for the FLETC. It is situated in
southeast Georgia, housing modern resources such as
computer-equipped classrooms, a library, interviewing suites,
mock court rooms, computer forensics laboratories, and other
laboratories for fingerprinting and identifying narcotics.
Public Sector
Specialist
Glynco’s technical managers determined that virtualizing the
student computer workstations in their classrooms would
alleviate these issues.
“This entire project started off as a pilot project to evaluate
a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)—a rather large pilot
project,” said Patrick Riste, FLETC Chief of IT Solutions. The FLETC
needed a VDI solution that was flexible, reliable, secure,
and performed at a level that would significantly improve
the delivery of computer-based training. The infrastructure
would need to support the FLETC’s overall goal of improving
technology awareness and staff productivity with a flexible
IT mechanism designed to scale to support future classroom
technology needs, and enable growth even in locations with
limited real estate.
The Solution
Faced with ever-growing demand for its limited number of
training seats, FLETC managers realized they needed to make
more classroom space available, and streamline the delivery
of training across the computer classroom environment. They
also looked to minimize the increasing burden of having to
reset classroom computers, a step required to remove sensitive
data from each class session in preparation for the next class.
The FLETC issued a request for proposals from vendors who
could help upgrade its infrastructure to support increased
training throughput. Among the respondents was Govplace,
a DC-based IT services firm that designs, deploys, and
manages enterprise solutions for the public sector. With a
core expertise in data center efficiency, Govplace leverages
technical expertise, public sector experience, government
contracts, project methodology and a performance-based
contracting model to deliver effective IT solutions for
government and education.
These and other time consuming requirements equated to
high total cost of ownership for the classroom technology, and
limited the FLETC’s flexibility to deliver computer-based training.
“Govplace went into the bid with a solution geared towards
the customer’s demands, not a one-size-fits-all approach like
the competition pitched,” Riste observed.
Govplace and the FLETC formed an Integrated Project
Team (IPT) that included key stakeholders from both
organizations. The team implemented a VDI environment
based on the HP Blade Server Infrastructure, with
high performance servers and storage. They used a
sophisticated VMware View deployment to rapidly
provision desktops for use across multiple networks with
varying security requirements. The solution includes two
redundant infrastructures, one in Glynco and the other
in Charleston, SC.
“Our solution integrated the FLETC’s
existing desktop images, and was
customized
to
provide
unique
integrations with the FLETC’s encrypted
USB thumb drives and streaming video,”
noted Dan Smith, Vice President of
Technology for Govplace.
years when we don’t have to continually replace the thin clients.”
The Govplace VDI solution also significantly reduces the
need for the FLETC desktop administrators to manage
classroom computers, and allows for more centralized
management of patching, updates, and new software rollouts. The VDI system also shrinks the energy footprint of the
computer-based training environment at the FLETC.
“This is a much faster IT solution from an IT management
perspective,” Riste said. “When we upgraded from Windows
XP to Windows 7, we did it overnight.
That would have taken much longer
with the old environment, as we would
have had to install it on each client in
each classroom.“
“This is a much faster
IT solution from
an IT management
perspective.”
The Partnership
Riste says Govplace went beyond his
“Each classroom runs a thin client,
expectations to ensure the project’s success.
Patrick Riste,
with anywhere from 29 to 45 desktop
“They worked diligently to work out issues
computers, all networked with the
Chief of IT Solutions, FLETC
and find workarounds and solutions to
instructor’s PC/podium setup, which
meet our needs,” he said. “There were a lot
also connects to a projector. Now
of unknowns that they worked out.”
with the VDI environment, all classroom images and apps
are stored in the data center, and students can access the
For example, Riste recalled, post-installation testing revealed
appropriate material with a log-in ID.”
that the video protocol was inappropriate for their needs.
“Govplace diagnosed the problem and made a suggestion
The Results
that the FLETC acted on, and it drastically improved
The new VDI system enables the FLETC to deliver nearly any
performance,” Riste said.
computer-based training course in any of their VDI-equipped
Based on the success of this engagement with Govplace, the
classrooms. “In terms of ROI, we can now support additional
FLETC’s managers are now considering next steps in IT that will
agencies in our existing classrooms instead of building new
further leverage the new VDI environment..
sites,” Riste reported. “We’ll also begin to realize savings over the
Discover Govplace
Govplace understands that your organization is faced with its greatest opportunity in years—capitalizing on major shifts in technology
to provide innovative solutions for some of your most challenging problems. Govplace solutions are designed with public sector
governance and IT security needs in mind, and solve many of the significant challenges facing you and your IT organization today.
• Your project is managed using our performance-based methodology, proven to deliver projects on budget, on time and per
the success indicators that matter to you.
• We hire the most qualified individuals, and our team becomes part of your team, working side-by-side with you to meet and
exceed your definition of success.
• We partner with the best companies in hardware and software, such as HP, so your solution is solid from the ground up.
Public Sector
Specialist
Find out what Govplace can do to help your government agency, schools,
business or medical practice. Contact us today:
Call (888)308-8802, or visit www.govplace.com.
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Federal Office
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Irvine, CA 92618
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