Abilene Independent School District Installs AEP Networks’ SSL VPN, Saves up to $875,000 in Tech Support Costs Over Five Years
SOMERSET, NJ – February 14, 2006 – AEP Networks today announced that the Abilene Independent School District in Texas has implemented AEP Networks’ Netilla Security Platform (NSP), providing thousands of students and staff with easy access to e-learning and other educational software applications. Chief Technical Officer, Martin Yarborough, expects the NSP will save the school district up to $875,000 in tech support costs over a five-year period.
More than 17,000 students in the Abilene School District take computer classes from kindergarten through grade twelve, learning how to use a variety of software programs such as Microsoft Office. Before implementing the NSP, Yarborough and his team installed and maintained software on every PC in the school district. The task was time consuming as the district has multiple computer labs, each with 25 or more machines, and most classrooms are equipped with two computers.
By implementing the NSP, Yarborough no longer needs to install software on individual machines. He can provide software applications to all classroom computers via terminal services, saving the school district hundreds of hours of work installing and maintaining individual computers.
“Without the NSP I would need five more technical support staff to keep all the computers up and running,” said Yarborough. “We’re seeing significant savings when you consider the cost of five extra support staff at $35,000 per year over a five-year period.”
Using the NSP to deploy applications via terminal services enables older machines running on Windows 98 to run all of the software applications that students use in the classroom. The NSP also load balances between servers, so the Abilene Independent School District did not need to install their own load-balancing servers.
Ease of use is another key NSP selling feature. “Ease of use is critical – not just for the IT department but for end users as well, particularly when they are elementary students who are learning how to use computers,” said Yarborough.
About AEP Networks
AEP Networks (www.aepnetworks.com), the specialist in network and application access security, delivers infrastructure security solutions that are easy to use and manage while offering exceptional value and mission-critical reliability. The company provides a full range of solutions, including identity-based application security gateways, highly secure VPNs, SSL VPNs and cryptographic key management products, to meet the most demanding requirements of public-sector and commercial customers around the world. A privately held company backed by leading technology investors, AEP Networks is based in Somerset, NJ, with European headquarters in London and a Government Solutions Group in Rockville, MD.