Mount Wachusett Community College selects Enterasys for Campus Network

ANDOVER, Mass., April 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Enterasys Networks, a Siemens Enterprise Communications Company, announced today that Mount Wachusett Community College (MWCC), with three campuses across Massachusetts, has deployed the OneFabric BYOD solution from Enterasys to increase network bandwidth, provide improved wireless coverage for Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) and support future virtualization initiatives.

With Enterasys, students have the flexibility and choice of accessing academic content and applications through their own laptops, tablets and smartphones. The Enterasys solution, including the newly introduced Mobile IAM (Identity and Access Manager) solution, is a full-scale replacement of the college's previous Cisco infrastructure, delivering a cost-effective, easy-to-manage network that provides complete visibility.

"We needed a complete network overhaul to not only keep pace with current connectivity demands, but also provide enough bandwidth for future growth," said Susan McHugh, Executive Director of Information Services for MWCC. "By implementing the Mobile IAM solution from Enterasys, our students and faculty aren't limited in how they can utilize technology in MWCC's learning experience."

After a year-long evaluation process, MWCC chose Enterasys' OneFabric architecture, including the Mobile IAM, to fulfill their criteria at a much lower price than its competitors.

"We had a lot of discussions with Cisco, but in the end they couldn't give us what we needed. Enterasys offered a redundant core, policy and visibility with its networking architecture – at a much higher value for our investment," said McHugh. "Even our longtime Cisco administrator was convinced that Enterasys was the right choice for MWCC."

MWCC's solution also includes a complete OneFabric Access Edge solution consisting of Enterasys Wireless, as well as wired Ethernet switches. With this solution MWCC has over 90 percent WLAN coverage across all three campuses, delivering connectivity to students, staff and administrators. The college is also benefitting from Enterasys management and security software to efficiently manage devices, applications and overall user experience with very few IT resources.

As the majority of MWCC's students require access to campus computers, McHugh and her team will be piloting a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) project – a program that would not have been possible prior to the Enterasys OneFabric architecture deployment. Implementing VDI will allow MWCC to centralize management of its campus computers and control what is being installed and used on its desktops.

"We planned to do a VDI POC about 2 years ago, but we couldn't support it with our current infrastructure. Now with a future-proofed infrastructure in place, we can determine if VDI is the right strategy for MWCC," said McHugh. "Since we have a small IT staff, virtualizing MWCC's desktops can simplify management and lower the total cost of ownership."

Since the Mobile IAM implementation, BYOD has become the norm, as students can bring multiple devices onto the network, and faculty members are making lectures more dynamic by accessing applications via wireless devices such as iPads.

"From a support perspective, Enterasys gets five stars. Enterasys has been there for us every step of the way. Responding, understanding, and willing to collaborate with us on a number of ideas," said McHugh. "Enterasys is very much on top of our needs and ready to log right in and deal with any issues that may arise. We can't say enough good things about our experience with Enterasys."

Resources

• Enterasys OneFabric BYOD webpage
• Enterasys Solutions for Higher Education webpage
• Enterasys Social Media newsroom
• Mt. Wachusett Community College Case Study

About Enterasys Networks and Siemens Enterprise Communications
Siemens Enterprise Communications is a premier provider of end-to-end enterprise communications, including voice, network infrastructure and security solutions that use open, standards-based unified communications and business applications for a seamless collaboration experience. This award-winning "Open Communications" approach enables organizations to improve productivity and reduce costs through easy-to-deploy solutions that work within existing IT environments, delivering operational efficiencies. It is the foundation for the company's OpenPath® commitment that enables customers to mitigate risk and cost-effectively adopt unified communications. Jointly owned by The Gores Group and Siemens AG, Siemens Enterprise Communications includes Cycos and Enterasys Networks. For more information about Siemens Enterprise Communications or Enterasys please visit www.siemens-enterprise.com or www.enterasys.com.

SOURCE Enterasys Networks