September 2018: NET+ Splunk Update

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Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

By Nick Lewis, Internet2 Program Manager, Security and Identity

The end of summer is always a busy time of year for campuses preparing for the new academic year. So this seems like a good time for an update on the NET+ Splunk program since the last update in April 2018, and as a follow-on to the overall NET+ program updates.

The NET+ Splunk service advisory board has been working with Splunk and Carahsoft on managing the program. Baylor, Caltech, Indiana University, University of Nebraska Lincoln, and University of Washington (UW) are currently engaged in the group. Tom Lewis from UW has volunteered to be the first chair of the group. Many thanks to Tom for stepping up to this responsibility for the benefit of the community!

Our primary discussion has been about getting more campus involvement and formalizing the group. We’ve received briefings on Collectd and updates from Splunk on the Splunk Pledge and Splunk4Good programs. We’ve also briefly discussed contracts for the next update of the program. On the next advisory board call Splunk will be discussing their interests in high-performance computing (HPC) operations and academic health centers.

The NET+ Splunk program now has 64 campuses signed up and has started to grow again after some contraction in the program while it was updated. We will continue to work with Splunk and Carahsoft on signing up new campuses and renewing existing campuses to the program.

Here are FAQs compiled since the last update on the NET+ Splunk program:

Campuses have been confused about why Carahsoft and resellers were incorporated into the program. This change was driven by Splunk to match how they work with the rest of the public sector business which goes through Carahsoft. We have an approved list of resellers in the program and work with Carahsoft on them managing the resellers. With this change, quotes and invoices will not come from Internet2 or Splunk, but will come from Carahsoft or the reseller. Your campus will sign the NET+ Splunk Reseller Service Order with the reseller and the NET+ Splunk Software License Agreement with Splunk. Your campus can choose from the list (BAI, CDW-G, cStor, ePlus, GTS Technology Solutions, NuHarbor Security, Presidio, RFD, SHI, Spico) about which reseller to work with. If your campus doesn’t have a preferred reseller, Carahsoft can help identify a reseller to work with your campus.
Campuses have asked for clarification regarding pricing in the program and changes from the 2015 pricing levels. In the program update, the pricing stayed the same for the 3-year term, pre-paid agreement. Two other pricing models, the 3-year term paid annually and the annual term, have seen pricing increases. The 3-year term paid annually pricing has risen approximately 5%, while the annual term is new to the program and approximately 10% more expensive than the 3-year term with annual payments. Splunk also removed the 20GB pricing tier, so the lowest tier a campus can sign-up for is 50GB. The requirement to buy Splunk education credits was also removed. Additional products were also included in program, such as the Enterprise Security App and the IT Service Intelligence.
Campuses have asked about perpetual licensing. The NET+ Splunk program was set up for term licenses only, so we haven’t been involved in discussions around perpetual licensing. We understand perpetual licenses are critical to many campuses and have discussed this with Splunk. They have stated the perpetual license isn’t being withdrawn as an option.

If you have any feedback on the program, feel free to reach out to me (nlewis@internet2.edu) or email the group.

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