TAA & DoDIN APL Cisco Networking for Illinois

CMS's Chief Procurement Office for General Services launched the Unified Procurement Program to widen access to cooperative contracts for state agencies, municipalities, and qualified not-for-profits, and Illinois participates in NASPO ValuePoint cooperative solicitations, including the Utah-led cloud solutions master agreement. Separately, the Illinois Century Network — run by the Department of Innovation & Technology — provides no-cost internet access, WAN circuits, and E-rate Category 2 support to Illinois K-12 districts over a 2,000-mile fiber backbone, which is where school-district Catalyst switching and access-point refreshes typically get funded and specified.

Naval Station Great Lakes, the Navy's only boot camp and the largest training station in the fleet, processes roughly 40,000 recruits a year near North Chicago, while Scott Air Force Base near Belleville and Rock Island Arsenal round out a Department of Defense presence that supports over 20,000 personnel statewide. That combination — a large recruit-training installation, a major logistics air base, and a statewide K-12 broadband consortium — means Illinois IT buyers span federal base contractors, state agencies under CMS contracts, and school districts sourcing through the E-rate-aligned Century Network.