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Ursinus College Selects Siemens Enterprise Communications for Secure Wired and Wireless Access
Enterasys LAN Switches and Siemens HiPath(R) Wireless Work Together to Provide Secure Voice, Video and Data Anywhere, Anytime
| Source: Enterasys
ANDOVER, MA--(Marketwire - February 10, 2009) - Enterasys and Siemens Enterprise
Communications today announced that Ursinus College is leveraging secure
convergence and connectivity solutions for its campus-wide wired and
wireless network to support voice, video and data collaboration
applications. Enterasys/Siemens solutions prioritize and secure more than
2,000 students, faculty and staff with mobile access across 58 buildings on
the 170 acre campus, including classrooms, residence halls and educational
centers. A network operations staff of only two employees manages the
entire wired and wireless communications infrastructure using integrated
management software from Enterasys and Siemens.
Ursinus College is a four-year liberal arts institution located near
Philadelphia in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. The College's innovative
academic programs have been recognized by The Princeton Review, USA Today
and Newsweek, including an initiative in which all students receive a
laptop for educational use. Ursinus was also featured in Colleges that
Change Lives authored by Loren Pope, former education editor of the New
York Times. The laptop program has resulted in a jump to more than 500 new
devices requiring network access, services and support.
"Technology is a means for us to better connect our instructors with our
students to stimulate thought and discussion in the classroom. Since 2000,
we have been providing laptops for all incoming freshmen, and at least one
hardware upgrade prior to graduation," explained Dr. John King, CIO of
Ursinus College. "Our previous network was simply too expensive and time
consuming to operate and maintain. Enterasys and Siemens delivered on
their promise to provide a system that was cost-effective and easy to use.
Their design assistance helped us deploy 802.11n WLAN for smarter bandwidth
over greater distances using our existing power-over-Ethernet (PoE)
connections and integrating our 802.11a/b/g access points. We now reliably
connect students, faculty and administration anywhere on campus, while
preventing security intrusions, and prioritizing and streamlining traffic."
The campus network must also support critical applications such as the
Blackbaud student information system, financials and development systems;
Blackboard Transaction System and Learning System; Blackbaud NetCommunity
web collaboration; and SirsiDynix Symphony Library system. The network will
serve as the framework for The College's future voice/video/data
collaboration tools that enable students and faculty to support independent
studies and global learning beyond the classroom.
"Our Enterasys and Siemens network has helped us achieve our goal of
improving instructional impact through better technology," King said. "It
also serves as a platform for our streaming video services and upcoming
initiatives involving IP telephony and unified communications."
The network is comprised of Enterasys Matrix® N-Series switches in the
core, SecureStack™ B-Series switches at the network edge, a Siemens
communications platform for telephony, and HiPath Wireless C2400E
controllers with wireless access points supporting 802.11a/b/g/n
connectivity for secure, high-bandwidth mobility. The NetSight management
software delivers visibility across both Enterasys and Siemens solutions,
so King and his team can easily monitor and manage the total communications
infrastructure while retaining granular, identity-based control through
student/teacher/staff role-based policies. King also plans to add Guest
Access features in the coming year.
"Support from Enterasys and Siemens has been reliable, proactive and very
responsive," King said. "We have never experienced any major issues, but we
are confident in knowing that if problems ever did arise, the
Enterasys/Siemens team will do whatever it takes to quickly resolve any
situation. To our users, the network is transparent -- it just works --
anytime, anywhere."
About Enterasys Networks
Enterasys is part of Siemens Enterprise Communications, a joint venture
between the private equity firm The Gores Group and Siemens AG. Enterasys
delivers Secure Networks™ that ensure the confidentiality, integrity,
and availability of IT services and the business users that rely on them --
without sacrificing performance. Thousands of enterprises, government
agencies and educational institutions in more than 70 countries worldwide
rely on our convergence, compliance and connectivity solutions to deliver
business-oriented, identity-based visibility and control of individual user
and application priority and security. The company's culture is centered on
the principle, "There is nothing more important than our customers."
Enterasys' standards-based, open-architecture approach to network security
offers a long technology lifecycle and significant operational and business
benefits, while reducing total cost of ownership. Information about
Enterasys' award winning, policy-enabled switches, routers, wireless
products, security software and services is available at www.enterasys.com.
About Siemens Enterprise Communications
Siemens Enterprise Communications is a joint venture between the private
equity firm The Gores Group and Siemens AG. The joint venture incorporates
Siemens Enterprise Communications GmbH & Co. KG, its worldwide affiliates
and the businesses of Enterasys Networks and SER Solutions, creating a new
leader in enterprise communications -- strong in unified communications,
contact centers and secure networks. More than 14,000 employees worldwide
follow an Open Communications approach, providing enterprise communications
and data networking solutions for enterprises of all sizes. This enables
business processes to be more productive, faster and more secure within any
network or information technology infrastructure. In fiscal 2007, Siemens
Enterprise Communications generated revenues of approximately 3.2 billion
Euros. For more information about Siemens Enterprise Communications, please
visit www.siemens.com/open.