You CAN Be in the Driver's Seat with E-Rate: Your Learning Environment, Your Way

For IT network operators and administrative leaders at most K-12 schools, time and money are in short supply. Network deployment can be rough when you’re tasked with getting the most out of every minute in the schedule and every dollar in the budget.

Thanks to programs like E-Rate, if you are eligible there are funds available for network upgrades. But how do you ensure the process will happen on your terms, free from a deployment logjam? It all comes down to the partner and with Extreme you can steer your deployment in the right direction.

Deployment Difficulties and Detours

On average, K-12 schools spend $26-$41 billion a year on technology. For that kind of money, it should be pain-free, especially regarding deployment. Yet even as you read this, you’re probably rolling your eyes.

We get it. Your network management responsibilities are extensive. Big picture, you’re tasked with ensuring faculty can integrate appropriate and innovative technologies to enhance and extend learning. Day to day, you’re dealing with diverse physical configurations and various demands. You must facilitate drive-in learning, remote sites, and mobile Wi-Fi hot spots. And it all has to happen immediately, if not sooner.

Your existing network probably doesn’t make it easy to incorporate new technology, users are clamoring for a better experience, and connectivity is unreliable at best. Sound about right?

Despite all this, there’s a good chance you fear the solution could cause more trouble than it’s worth. Your team’s overwrought with demands from faculty, administration, students, and their families – many of whom are already distrustful of technology. Meanwhile, finding and evaluating an E-Rate eligible solution is time-consuming. What if deploying a new network is worse than just dealing with the one you’ve got?

At Extreme Networks, K-12 experts can help you put those fears to rest so you can navigate true north.

Be the Navigator with a Smart Solution

When you have the right partner, deployment is an attainable destination rather than an elusive point on the horizon. “Our district required infrastructure and analytics technology to support the needs of our students, teachers, and IT staff,” said Steve Boone, Network Administrator and Computer Operations Manager for Hardin County School District in Elizabethtown, KY. “Partnering with Extreme Networks gave us seamless, secure wireless access that allowed us to roll out a BYOD initiative and provide easy network access to all types of devices while simultaneously preserving network security and protecting the privacy and safety of all students.”

Our systematic and strategic process provides flexible options for on-premises, private, or public cloud deployment, so you can choose how you want to extend your network. And with 100% in-house customer service available 24/7/365 from our Global Technical Assistance Center, you can also select the level of service right for your school.

We help you along your entire journey with an A-to-Z flow of tasks, from creating a site, through captive portal and network configuration, to developing adoption rules to automatically organizing your APs into proper device groups upon registration.

Thanks to fourth generation cloud technology powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), your deployment will be:

• Easy: View your entire network through a single pane of glass and receive data-driven insights for a personalized experience and greater network visibility.
• Distributed: Your network can be managed around the clock, from anywhere, across an unlimited number of distributed environments.
• At Scale: A single cloud instance allows you to manage thousands of infrastructure devices while taking advantage of unlimited data capabilities.

Now you can increase bandwidth and rely on the unified network of access points, switches, and routers necessary for today’s ever-evolving, distributed network. When it’s time for changes or upgrades, they can always be made on your terms. Our intuitive configuration delivers management tools to simplify set-up and optimize wired and wireless performance.