The Internet can be a perilous place for inquisitive children. More than ever, the education system is working tirelessly to ensure that students at every age can access information for learning without revealing inappropriate or dangerous material. In an educational setting, any web filtering software or hardware solution has to do more than simply block inappropriate sites; it needs to balance educational Web 2.0 use with student protection and network security to provide safe access to online resources and collaboration.
In an effort to curb unfettered access to the Internet for vulnerable schoolchildren, legislators voted in the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA), a federal law designed to help ensure the safety of children accessing the Internet over school and library computers. CIPA mandates that schools and libraries use web filtering to block dangerous or inappropriate material from minors. The challenge for network security companies focused on the education market is to be able to provide school districts with fast, easy CIPA-compliant filtering and access to engaging, educational content – all at an affordable price point. One network security company was able to meet this challenge with innovative software and management capabilities delivered on an appliance-based solution.
Architecting a high-performance, scalable, and reliable appliance-based solution
This network security company selected UNICOM Engineering, a value-added system integrator, as their partner of choice to manufacture a purpose-built, robust web filtering appliance that was easy to manage for educators and their IT staff. As a result of the need to balance educational access and child safety, our client developed the most advanced network filtering appliance designed to meet the needs of K-12 school districts. A key to their success was to make this product a reality very quickly.
They chose UNICOM Engineering because they were certain that UNICOM Engineering could deliver the results they needed to hit an aggressive market window. UNICOM Engineering’s system integration expertise allowed them to aggressively accelerate their go-to-market schedule and our manufacturing resources and support services allowed them to deliver a more effective design. The result -- UNICOM Engineering increased the competitiveness of their product and the value they are able to deliver to their target customers.
Exceptionally fast time-to-market
Utilizing UNICOM Engineering’s application deployment, solution design, and system integration services, this network security company was able to develop and launch their appliance in less than 60 days. Based on an award-winning Web Filter, the solution is preloaded on a UNICOM Engineering appliance and comes plug-and-play ready for seamless installation and operation with existing school networks. The appliance uses the industry’s most advanced processing and storage components to deliver CIPA-compliant network filtering and reduced data rate latencies with scalable expansion capability, featuring support for mobile devices and our client’s integrated collaborative learning management system.
With UNICOM Engineering’s help, our client was in the optimal position to capture increased market share by quickly addressing the problem, ultimately accelerating the sale of its products and giving the company a competitive edge.
To our client, education isn’t an industry, it’s a passion, so it was important that they work with a company that had considerable expertise in appliance development to address both the hardware and software issues that would arise during this process. Our client remains committed to working with schools to accomplish amazing things, both on the network and in the classroom, and values partners such as UNICOM Engineering that enable them to achieve this mission. This solution is now used in more than 3,000 school districts representing more than 10 million students across the world.
Looking for a deployment partner to get your solution to market quickly, contact UNICOM Engineering at 800-977-1010 or visit www.unicomengineering.com.