Meet the Client
A leading private school in India with three expansive campuses, known for its commitment to academic excellence and innovative learning approaches.
Challenges
The school aimed to introduce smart classes across all campuses, equipped with the latest technology to enhance the learning experience for students. However, several challenges stood in the way of achieving this goal:
- Connectivity: Legacy network infrastructure struggled to provide reliable and consistent connectivity across all classrooms, especially during peak usage times. This resulted in disruptions to online resources, video streaming, and collaborative learning activities
- Performance Bottlenecks: The legacy network architecture was not designed to handle the increased bandwidth demands of modern smart classrooms. This led to slow download and upload speeds, impacting the overall performance and responsiveness of online applications
- Roaming Challenges: As students and teachers moved between classrooms or campuses with their devices, maintaining a seamless and uninterrupted network connection became difficult. This hindered the adoption of mobile learning initiatives Security: The rise of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) introduced potential security risks to the school's network. Unauthorised access, data breaches, and inappropriate content filtering were major concerns that needed to be addressed
Solution
Recognising the need for a comprehensive and reliable network solution, the school partnered with Proactive Data Systems, a Cisco Gold Partner for over a decade with Cisco Advanced CX specialization. Proactive’s networking experts designed and implemented a tailored solution powered by Cisco Meraki, Switching, and Identity Services Engine (ISE):
- Cisco Meraki Wireless: Deployed high-performance Meraki wireless access points across all campuses to ensure seamless roaming and reliable Wi-Fi coverage in every classroom. This allowed students and teachers to access online resources without interruption, regardless of their location
- Cisco Meraki Switching: Upgraded the core network infrastructure with Meraki switches to provide high-speed uplink connectivity and network segmentation. This optimised network performance, reduced congestion, and ensured that critical applications received the necessary bandwidth
- Cisco ISE: Implemented Identity Services Engine for comprehensive network security and access control. This enabled a secure BYOD program by authenticating devices and blocking unauthorised users or devices from accessing the network
- Meraki Dashboard: Centralised network management through the intuitive Meraki dashboard simplified monitoring, troubleshooting, and configuration tasks. This gave IT administrators of the institution greater visibility and control over the network usage
Results
The Cisco Meraki solution delivered significant benefits to the school:
- Enhanced Learning Experience: Smart classes became a reality with seamless connectivity, high-performance networks, and uninterrupted access to online resources. Students and teachers could engage in interactive learning activities, collaborate effectively, and leverage multimedia content without problems
- Improved Security: The risk of unauthorised access and data breaches was mitigated through robust authentication and access control measures. The school could confidently embrace BYOD while ensuring a safe and secure learning environment
- Simplified Management: The Meraki dashboard streamlined network management tasks, freeing up IT staff to focus on strategic initiatives rather than routine maintenance. This improved operational efficiency and reduced overall IT costs
What's Next
The school plans to leverage the scalability and flexibility of the Cisco Meraki platform to support future growth and innovation. They are exploring additional features such as location analytics, content filtering, and application optimisation to further enhance the learning experience and network security.
