Network Refresh

Hi all!

We are in the process of generating an RFP for an entire network refresh for both the wired and wireless network.

We are a medium sized org in higher ed supporting around 600 employees and a few thousand students. We last upgraded our network about ten years ago and a lot of things have changed in the networking world since - 3 of our team of 4 were not here yet and the 4th was not super involved in that process at the time.

I'm wondering if anyone else here has been through something similar and has any stories/tips to share regarding the experience. I am really looking for any advice I can find - things to look out for/look into/avoid/be wary of, ways to help manage it as a small team, handling the negotiating, whatever.

If I were giving these tips, these are the types of things I would probably say. Please feel free to add to these, correct me, or just use it as inspiration:

1. Watch out for licensing fees. I've heard a company may propose a certain cost in the RFP for the initial purchase but then increase the prices drastically for any purchases afterward once you're locked into a contract. (Is there a way to help avoid that?)
2. Think about what you need for maintenance. Some vendors (I'm not sure how common it is) will provide basic support just under the warranty of a switch and will suggest you purchase a support contract for just your core switches.
3. Speaking of core switches, it seems like some companies do this differently. Some have real cores that are huge beasts and sometimes have extra features. You basically need them. Other vendors have a slimmer approach with 1U fiber switches. It obviously depends on a lot of factors and I'm not sure which is more common/best practice, or if one is even preferred.
4. Since you're upgrading both wired and wireless, watch out for the POE requirements on the wireless. 802.11AX requires more power (802.3bt) and your switches need to support that. What was once able to do everything - 802.3at (POE+) is no longer enough. (Also, how does this affect power costs for your company?)
5. Think about whether you should buy wired and wireless from the same vendor, or do them separately. (Looking for any advice on this one especially)

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Sorry the post is a bit all over the place. The project is a huge scope so I'm really looking for any tips/experiences at all that can help make this successful!

Thanks!