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Extreme Networks (EXTR) Networking Solutions Selected by College Preparatory School
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.
