GASD
New York State School District Modernizes its Network and Security Systems with the Fortinet Security Fabric
Download Case StudyOverview
With new state compliance requirements needed, the Greater Amsterdam School District (GASD) in New York decided to take on a network and cybersecurity modernization effort to support its approximately 4,000 students and 700 staff. With a small IT team, it wanted to eliminate security gaps by better integrating systems and reducing complexity.
Already impressed by its Fortinet Next-Generation Firewalls, the district chose to further integrate solutions from the Fortinet Security Fabric knowing they would help meet its cybersecurity framework and compliance requirements. Fortinet also helped the district fund the projects through various government programs. The transition helped close various security gaps in email, endpoint, access management, and at the network edge. GASD even extended secure connectivity to remote learners. Some immediate benefits realized by the district include time savings through integration and automation, better visibility across network activity, the ability to support disadvantaged students with seamless remote connectivity, and even access to better cyber insurance for the district.
“Our experience with the FortiGate Next-Generation Firewalls [NGFWs] has been great, and we were impressed by the level of integration enabled by the broader Fortinet Security Fabric, as well as Fortinet’s competitive pricing. Importantly, Fortinet could also provide the level of security required to access federal government and state funding and deliver against the NIST [National Institute of Standards and Technology] Cybersecurity Framework.”
– Eric Scholl, Chief Security Officer, GASD
Business Impact
Secured compliance with New York State Education Law 2-d
Significant time savings through integration and automation
Significantly improved security posture and reduced operational risk
Improved access to cyber insurance
Secured internet connection at home for disadvantaged students
Support with federal funding applications
Related Stories
The value was so much better than competing proposals; it piqued our interest. Then we started to look into the products, and we were blown away by their capabilities.”
- Sandeep Dhillon, Executive Manager, Nassau BOCES
What makes Fortinet the right partner for Spring Branch ISD: The solutions are enterprise-class, they protect us from all angles—from perimeter to internal threats to email to authentication—and they provide 24×7 protection while effectively taking the human factor out of many of our processes.”
- Troy Neal, Cybersecurity and Technology Operations, Spring Branch ISD
I personally sleep better at night knowing that we have the Fortinet endpoint solutions in place, and the managed service is an additional safety net. We know the Fortinet team will let us know if something is going on, so that we can move quickly to address it.”
- Joe Kuehl, District Technology Manager, Millard Public Schools
