University Selects Nile

Johnson C. Smith University Selects Enterprise Networking Innovator Nile to Power its Campus-Wide Network

JCSU turns to Nile’s unique networking approach to dramatically improve performance, provide world-class security, and reduce its network management burden

Nile announced that Johnson C. Smith University has selected the Nile Access Service to replace its existing wired and wireless LAN solution across its entire campus. The institution selected Nile’s solution due to its unique performance guarantees for availability, coverage, and capacity, its AI-powered “as-a-Service” architecture that automates network lifecycle management, and its native campus zero trust security that prevents lateral movement attacks such as ransomware.

“Our number one goal in IT is to deliver a satisfying experience for our student body. That means handling their needs for high-performance connectivity, but also ensuring they’re secure as well,’” said John Norris, CIO, JCSU. “As we considered a refresh, I knew I needed a partner as much as a new solution. I have an amazing staff, but considering everything we had to deliver in implementing a new network, including security, performance, and reliability, whatever we selected had to augment my current resources, not create new demands. Nile nailed it on all fronts.”

Located in Charlotte, North Carolina, JCSU is a premier professional liberal arts HBCU with thousands of students and faculty that require reliable, secure, and high-performance connectivity. Its existing hardware-centric managed wireless network had aged significantly, and its vendors were no longer providing support despite their unpredictably high licensing costs. A potential increase from 5% to 30% in those costs, often without notice, was cause for concern, along with making budgeting a challenge. Additionally, students and faculty were both very vocal about the network's poor performance. On top of these issues, the previous solution had no modern security component, something critical to the overall health and safety of the student body and the university network.

JSCU quickly turned to Nile to address all of these demands. Nile delivered high-performance, secure wired and wireless LAN connectivity across the entire campus, including student, faculty, and administrative buildings, as well as outdoor campus settings.

Performance Guarantees - Prior to Nile, JCSU’s students regularly complained about the network's performance, particularly for high-demand applications like gaming. With an on-campus eSports league, performance quickly became a top priority for ensuring student satisfaction. What’s more, faculty regularly expressed concerns about students’ ability to deliver work assignments. Thanks to Nile’s industry-first performance guarantees for availability, coverage, and capacity, Nile was the only vendor to ensure high-performance connectivity for the entire campus.
Built-in Campus Zero Trust Security—Nile is the only vendor to offer per-device isolation and the elimination of lateral movement attacks, such as ransomware, from Day 1, with no configuration or professional services required. This capability was critical with the number of services that JCSU offers, both on-premises and in the cloud.
Network Observability and Management Automation - Augmenting JCSU’s existing IT staff and providing 24/7 visibility into the system's overall health was essential in selecting Nile for its network refresh. Nile’s extensive sensor network and AI-based automation doesn’t just identify problems; it proactively solves many of them without human intervention, all while providing IT leadership with granular insight into the network's overall health.
Nile’s “as-a-Service” Model and overall TCO - With a predictable payment model, instead of massive upfront costs for a hardware-centric network architecture, JSCU’s team was more easily able to get the budget for this project approved. This also meant that IT no longer had to worry about unpredictable licensing costs or the next hardware upgrade/refresh cycle. All of those costs are included in their subscription fee. That’s why Nile delivers the industry's best Total-Cost-of-Ownership.

“The predictability, reliability, and security of the Nile Access Service make it ideal for higher education settings,” said Surbhi Kaul, Nile’s vice president, Customer Experience. “These organizations are often challenged by budget, availability of certain IT skills, and resource management issues, but still need to deliver a solid foundation of connectivity for students, faculty, and administration alike. At Nile, we’re proud to make that possible for historical campuses like JCSU.”

Source: Nile media announcement

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