Is your school’s ICT network safe and secure?

Is your school’s ICT network safe and secure?
In 2018, the key concerns for schools will be securing the network effectively, with an ever-growing number of classroom devices demanding constant access to the Internet.

This trend is being driven not only by the growing need for schools’ internal and external information processes to become more streamlined, but to help improve the digital literacy of students who will enter high-tech workplaces when they leave school.

According to studies, about 75% of the fastest growing jobs in the world require knowledge science and technology, which are becoming crucial fields as industries move towards automation and digitisation.

In November, Aruba – a Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company – kicked off its 2017 ANZ Atmosphere tour, which brought together the smartest minds in the networking industry to discuss some of the inherent challenges, and opportunities in this area.

According to Anthony Smith, Director, Aruba South Pacific, education technology services in the K-12 space are evolving at a rapid pace.

“These services are being consumed via a wide array of device types,” Smith told The Educator.

“This is then paired with a growing number of devices per student, which is often five to seven devices.”

Smith said the imperative is to deliver “granular network access” without compromising security in high dense user environments that are consuming large amounts of data, all the while constrained by IT skilled resources.

“Deploying a context aware or ‘intelligent edge’ network, enables K-12 IT teams to deliver network services at speed [using automation and zero-touch provisioning] while the network configuration is simplified by centralised network policy, giving safe and secure access with no compromises,” he said.

Smith said Aruba provides schools with a consistent network architecture, providing flexibility in terms of ownership, consumption and management, this can be from a service provider or the cloud or on premises.

“We do not lock schools into specific architecture or usage model, which is great for scalability,” he said.


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