Securing School Networks

Portland Public Schools

Industry: Education
Network Size: 730 PCs across 6 sites

“Untangle® gives us everything we need for keeping our staff and students safe, and at a cost about half that of competitors."

Background
The Portland Public Schools District in Portland, MI, comprises four schools, an adult and alternative education center, and two administrative offices. Serving 2,100 students, the District believes that access to information resources is essential in preparing students to succeed in a global society. It also maintains that investment in technology is a key step towards accessing information, achieving learning outcomes, and providing equity to the students in the area.

Continuous Improvement
The District has a policy of constantly re-assessing what technology options are available, as its systems and software come up for renewal or replacement. David Palme, Director of Technology, said: “School technology budgets are under pressure. However, we aim not only to maintain service levels, but continue to innovate and move forward. Untangle fits that bill.”

Secure, Yet Simple
David selected Untangle for the completeness of its security offerings, coupled with the ease with which it can be administered. Portland is using Untangle to block spam, prevent access to inappropriate web sites and stop viruses getting on to the network. David explained, “It’s important for teachers in the schools to have the ability to make administrative changes to our Untangle system. Untangle’s interface is straight-forward and easy to grasp for the occasional user but robust and detailed enough for modification to the unique needs of the educational environment.”

Staff and Students
Untangle’s policy management and integration with Microsoft® Active Directory® has allowed David to set up and enforce different web policies for staff and students. “Differentiated access is critical for education”, commented David. “Teachers need to be able to access certain web sites that would just prove a needless distraction to students in the classroom.”

Report Time
Untangle provides David with reports by user that enable him to see what network usage has taken place, aiding network management, policy enforcement and potential risk assessment.

School Budgets
David adds: “Untangle is the lowest priced vendor we’ve found. We’re always looking, but there’s been no need to go anywhere else.” He has just renewed his subscription for another year.