Disaster Planning

The University of Bern in Switzerland is reportedly using the Enterasys (News - Alert) Network Access Control (NAC) solution to authenticate, assess and authorize its networked campus IT infrastructure. The solution ensures that all devices linked to a network are free of malware and comply with corporate security policies before they’re allowed to connect.



Network policy enforcement is critical for organizations like The University of Bern, which has more than 5,400 employees, more than 13,000 students and approximately 12,000 connected devices in 120 buildings.

Enterasys’ NAC solution works without deploying agents on clients, enabling it to screen both corporate and guest devices. This means the university’s IT staff isn’t required to install or administrate the corresponding software on each networked device—which can be a costly and time-consuming process. With this solution in place, the IT staff can quickly authenticate more than 30,000 users and devices -- including laptops, printers, phones, PDAs and badge readers -- then authorize different access privileges based on faculty, student, administration and guest roles.

The university’s deployment of the solution is the latest development in its longstanding relationship with Enterasys. The university’s modern network is comprised of 45 Enterasys Matrix N-Series switches, 35 E-Series switches, over 100 SecureStack edge switches, as well as three Matrix X Secure Core routers that form the heart of the network. The network is administrated centrally by three university employees using the NetSight management software suite in conjunction with CA’s (News - Alert) SPECTRUM. Perhaps more importantly, the university has contributed significantly to the development of Enterasys’ products. Specifically, the university’s IT staff has provided significant input on how to provide simple and open access to authorized users, while at the same time assuring complete protection of networked assets and information.

 

“Since we began our partnership with Enterasys 20 years ago, there have been many changes in technology, but there is one thing that remains constant: our users require simple and instant access to the information and applications on our network,” said Fritz Bütikofer, chief of the network group of IT services for the university, in a press release. “Enterasys keeps us safe and their standards-based, open-architecture approach provides us trouble-free interoperability with other vendors’ products to protect existing investments as we expand and address new requirements.”

 

“What you need is what you get when connecting to the network,” Bütikofer explained. “The agent-less approach with Enterasys NAC is a great advantage in a university environment because it is inefficient or often impossible to install client software on personal computers we do not own or manage. Enterasys understands the demands we face better than any vendor we’ve worked with, and provides the timely products and support we need as our network evolves.”

 

“In the high technology sector, there are few relationships that last 20 years. The University of Bern is one of Enterasys’ most enduring customers, and a valued partner,” said Mike Fabiaschi, president and CEO at Enterasys. “The commitment to delivering the reliability and flexibility our customers need to secure and grow their infrastructure is the foundation of our company. We look forward to serving the University for decades to come.”

 

Andover, Mass.-based Enterasys last made news on TMCnet in December when it announced that Bethel University in St. Paul, Minn. was using its NAC solution to authenticate, assess and authorize over 7,000 students and employees, and more than 4,000 networked devices. It also got coverage on TMCnet last month regarding the roll out of its new Enterasys Secure Networks for Virtual Data Centers solution, which assures the connectivity and compliance of virtualized computing and storage.

The company is owned by a private investor group led by The Gores Group, LLC, and Tennenbaum Capital Partners, LLC. 

 

Thousands of enterprises, government agencies and educational institutions in more than 70 countries worldwide use Enterasys’ convergence, connectivity and compliance solutions to deliver business-oriented, policy-based visibility and control of individual user and application priority and security. 

For more information visit www.enterasys.com.

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Patrick Barnard is Assignment Editor for TMCnet and Associate Editor for Customer Interaction Solutions magazine. To see more of his articles, please visit Patrick Barnard’s columnist page.