University of Northern Iowa Selects Enterasys to Support BYOD Program

ANDOVER, Mass., Dec. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Enterasys Networks, a Siemens Enterprise Communications Company, today announced that the University of Northern Iowa (UNI)  has deployed Enterasys K-Series flow-based switching solutions as part of a network refresh program  to support the proliferation of new devices connecting to the network and the university's Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) initiative. The new infrastructure includes the largest Enterasys K-Series deployment to date, as well as Enterasys S-Series stand- alone (SSA) system modular switches. The university is also benefitting from Enterasys NetSight (formerly Network Management Suite) and Network Access Control (NAC), key components of the OneFabric Control Center, to centrally manage and monitor the network, providing unsurpassed visibility and control over applications and users.

UNI needed to upgrade its network in order to provide its 10 residence halls with a Gigabit network that could support the students' existing and future wireless bandwidth needs.  With its previous 10 Megabit network infrastructure, UNI network administrators were constantly writing custom code to solve network issues as a single device could interrupt connectivity for an entire building.

"One of the biggest benefits with the Enterasys offering is the exceptional levels of automation and end-to-end visibility and control delivered by the K-Series and S-Series modular switches and NetSight," said Aaron Howard, computer network systems manager for UNI. "During our evaluating process, we looked at the network management tools from a variety of vendors, but at the end of the day, NetSight in combination with the switches was a more powerful solution that would allow us to do more with less staff and less effort. Since the deployment of our Enterasys upgrade, we don't need to devote an employee to writing tools to monitor the network and the students have enjoyed more reliable connectivity and consistent performance."  

Central to UNI's purchasing decision was the ability of the switching solution to manage the University's BYOD program, which requires robust location, identification, visibility and overall management capabilities.

"With students bringing their own devices, we need to ensure these devices comply with our security policies without requiring the user to load software, which could potentially cause harm or implicate us in supporting it," said Howard. "Since the Enterasys K-Series and NAC automatically detects, profiles and tracks any end system and user on the infrastructure, we can ensure devices are not only protected from security threats, but also have the latest patches and drivers to protect us from misconfigured or infected devices."

As UNI hasn't experienced an IT overhaul of this size for over 10 years, selecting a company that could provide extensive support during the implementation of the new networking solution was paramount.

"The support from Enterasys is phenomenal. We truly feel like we're more than a customer – that we're a trusted advisor. Enterasys really wants to know what we need from their products, and in many cases, has implemented those changes," said Howard. "Enterasys has a reputation of keeping their customers, and from our experience with our network upgrade, it's obvious to us how they've gained this reputation."

Resources:

• University of Northern Iowa case study
• Enterasys Higher Education solutions
• Managing BYOD in the Enterprise white paper

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, Inc.