Controlling the Network with One Server

“Before we had Untangle I spent a lot of time managing the network. Nowadays, I have peace of mind that it is done for me.”

Background

Jaron Daily of BGO Architects loves Untangle—in fact, he’s something of an evangelist for the company’s products. “I love Untangle,’ he says, ‘and I’ve recommended it to several businesses, both larger and smaller than BGO Architects. It’s the simplest way I’ve found to control our network.”

Based in Texas, BGO Architects is a medium-sized business with a network of eighty users. Jaron administers the network along with two colleagues. Although the three of them have a high degree of technical savvy, IT is a part-time role. They are working architects with jobs to do separate from maintaining the network. Before the company implemented Untangle, Jaron reckons they were spending ten to twelve hours per week on IT issues: time taken away from their other job responsibilities.

Easy to Install and Manage

“Untangle took a couple of hours to set up,” says Jaron. “When we want to add a new application it takes ten to fifteen minutes, which includes time to show the relevant people how to use it.” Moreover, Jaron really likes the fact that Untangle never needs major maintenance: “Before we had Untangle I spent a lot of time managing the network. Nowadays, I have peace of mind that it is done for me.”

Visibility and Control

BGO Architects has also found that Untangle improves employee efficiency. Because the system can deliver reports on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, Jaron doesn’t have to spend a lot of time checking what’s going on. “It takes all the guesswork out of knowing what’s happening on the network,” he says. “Previously, we had issues with employees using web mail portals like Hotmail and Gmail at work. We don’t have a problem with them using their regular BGO email addresses for personal purposes, but we don’t like them to use third party systems that might create a potential open door. Using Untangle to block web mail allowed us to direct the traffic where we wanted it to go.”

Managers often worry about employees surfing inappropriate or irrelevant sites during office hours. This isn’t an issue for BGO Architects now that Untangle is installed. “Everyone knows that Untangle is working in the background, so we don’t have those problems anymore,” says Jaron.

Jaron Daily’s conclusions about Untangle are that it has saved him time and effort and saved his company money in the process.