News
How CCI Systems is using RDOF Key Insights to
Fuel BEAD Readiness
CCI Systems Case Study
Overview: The Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) is a federally funded initiative aimed at expanding broadband access to underserved rural communities. As a prime contractor, CCI Systems executed projects across multiple states under compressed timelines and evolving guidance. While the program achieved its core mission, it also surfaced some insights in launch discipline, workforce scaling, and customer coordination. We’ve institutionalized programs to help our clients thrive in the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) era, the next major federal effort to connect unserved and underserved communities.
Challenges:
Forecasting and Scheduling Transparency: RDOF’s nationally driven timelines and evolving guidance required rapid, priority‑shifting and updated communication from our teams. This highlighted importance of transparent, real-time scheduling tools for successful project startup.
Training and Workforce Readiness: Our pilot‑phase team revealed the need for a formal onboarding and training track, which we stood up to rapidly scale quality and capacity to meet the oncoming demand.
CCI Solution:
Customer-Centric Communication: Our success stemmed from daily stand-up team meetings, partner calls, in-person visits, and a culture of responsiveness. This built trust and positioned CCI Systems to deliver quality results.
Relentless Commitment: Our team was driven by a shared determination not to fail. We operated with a solution‑first mindset, finding compliant ways to keep work moving.
Implementation Strategy:
Operational Discipline: By locking in scope of work (SOW) earlier, we were able to avoid mid-project changes and boost our partners financial sustainability by aligning our invoicing to their Purchase Order structure.
Proactive Scheduling: Establishing and adhering to a clear schedule. The importance of transparent, real-time scheduling tools were essential for successful project startup and closeout.
Training & Quality Control: Our dedicated internal team was trained for quality control, invoice review, and app usage. We prioritized internal training programs to ensure new hires would be equipped to meet both quality and volume expectations.
Results & Benefits Preparing for BEAD:
Project Management Excellence: Each BEAD project is assigned a dedicated project manager from start to finish. This ensures consistent oversight of staffing, timelines, invoicing, and stakeholder communication.
Workforce Readiness: We’ve invested in front-end staffing plans to support rapid ramp-up and high-volume execution and built a robust network of quality vetted subcontractors.
Strategic Partnerships: Our reputation for hard work, transparency, and quality gives us a competitive edge in securing BEAD resources and partnerships.
Grant Closeout Compliance: We’re helping clients meet BEAD’s cybersecurity requirements, including NIST CSF 2.0 compliance, which enhances grant readiness and long-term sustainability and other grant reporting requirements.
