Network Access Control (NAC) Replacement Aruba ClearPass

Alvin College, a public community college in Brazoria County, Texas, is requesting proposals from Aruba/HPE Authorized Partners for a Network Access Control replacement solution based on Aruba ClearPass, with proposals due February 24, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. CDT. Pricing must be sourced through state or cooperative purchasing agreements (DIR, BuyBoard, TIPS, or OMNIA), and vendors must clearly identify the contract vehicle used.

The scope encompasses procurement of Aruba ClearPass physical appliances in high-availability configuration, professional services for design and implementation, migration from the existing Cisco Identity Services Engine environment, and knowledge transfer. The solution must support approximately 1,500 concurrent wired endpoints across two campuses, with centralized authentication for wired (Active Directory) and wireless (EAP-TLS) networks, device profiling, role-based access enforcement, guest access via user acceptance pages, and standards-based logging and monitoring integration. The College requires assistance establishing a Public Key Infrastructure environment; the College will provide the Windows server license and resources. ClearPass appliances must feature 10Gbps SFP+ network interface connections. Vendors must size licensing for 2,500 to 3,000 concurrent endpoints with three years of software subscription and support, and provide sizing documentation including concurrency assumptions and authentication frequency projections. The solution must support projected growth to approximately 8,000 students by 2030 without requiring redesign, with optional pricing for capacity expansion. Professional services are fixed-price and milestone-based.

The contract term is one year, renewable for up to four additional one-year terms (maximum five years). Evaluation uses best-value methodology: Aruba ClearPass experience (30 percent), higher-education experience (20 percent), documentation and training quality (15 percent), total cost (15 percent), college relationship experience (10 percent), and migration and cutover approach (10 percent). Proposals must include five client references from the previous five years, detailed personnel and subcontractor information, and Commercial General Liability insurance of at least $2 million aggregate. Evaluation begins after the February 24 deadline with Board of Regents approval anticipated in March 2026. Questions were due February 13, 2026. Addendum 1 (February 24, 2026) clarifies authentication protocols, PKI environment requirements, network usage baselines (2,500 current wired endpoints, 8,023 unique wireless clients), and that BYOD OnBoard is not required.