The First Academy (TFA), a
Christian college preparatory school in Central Florida, announced today that
it has selected Extreme Networks’ end-to-end networking solutions to help in
expanding its mobile environment. The company is working on earning an Apple
Distinguished School (ADS) title and currently has a one-to-one iPad program
and BYOD initiative.
The First Academy’s IT
professionals made their decision based on cost, reliability, consistency,
interoperability, and ease-of management. As the school prepared to double the
wireless usage among its users, their biggest concern was the ability to
securely onboard, prioritize, limit, and even restrict network access for
devices that were not in compliance with their school policies. This was of
particular concern given the variety of wireless devices in its classrooms and
that are now part of its BYOD initiative.
Bob Nilsson, Extreme
Networks’ Director of Vertical Solutions, remarked, “One of the main reasons
TFA chose Extreme was because our products were able to interoperate with the
school’s other vendor products seamlessly. In just four months, the school went
from servicing a couple hundred wireless devices to more than doubling TFA’s
service to 800 to 1,000 devices without increasing IT incidents but rather
decreasing them. Extreme has provided TFA peace of mind. TFA now feels
comfortable that its network is secure when students’ access the Internet and
that its network is protected from potential damaging devices.”
The school selected a
variety of top-notch products from Extreme’s suite of solutions. The school
will now be using the Extreme OneFabric Connect to connect its mobile
management solution, Casper, to the Extreme Mobile solution, allowing TFA to
set policies and check devices against its database each time a device seeks
access to the network. If the criteria set by TFA are not fulfilled, the device
is redirected and cannot gain access to the Wi-Fi network until they have been
met.
The First Academy also
selected Extreme’s IdentifFi Wireless solution to provide reliable, secure
wireless coverage for 1,200 students across a 100,000 square foot campus. The
school can now support BYOD and one-on-one initiatives while increasing the
control and productivity of their one network manager with a complete solution.
Finally, the school’s entire
network will be under one unified view, thanks to Extreme’s OneFabric
architecture. This solution reduces network complexity and allows the Academy
to simplify its network by making all its networking and computer equipment
work together. This has resulted in increased productivity.
Corey Radford, The First
Academy’s systems administrator, commented, “Prior to the Extreme
implementation, we had no way to assess device status and enforce compliance
with our policies. Now if a valid profile is not installed, the device cannot
use the network and I can finally sleep at night without having to worry about
rogue devices threatening the security of our network. I have been working in
IT for a long time and have never seen this level of control. Extreme’s
networking solution is literally so simple that I can just click and deny a
device from granting access until it is in full compliance.”
For more information on
Extreme Network’s solutions, please visit www.extremenetworks.com.
For more information on The
First Academy, please visit www.thefirstacademy.org.
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