William Paterson University faced challenges with network security and management due to the influx of wireless devices and limitations of their existing systems. The transition to Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) 1.2 improved secure access for users and streamlined management processes without increasing IT staff. This solution enhanced the university's Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy and overall network reliability.

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ImpactChallenges Why Cisco? SolutionCustomer Stats
William Paterson University
• Industry: Education
• Students: 11,500
• Faculty/Staff: 1,150
• Location: Wayne, NJ
• Five colleges include
Arts and
Communication,
Education, Humanities
and Social Sciences,
Science and Health, and
the Cotsakos College of
Business.
• Founded in 1855.
• Facilitates secure manual
registration by users if not
802.1X compliant.
• Eliminates server crashes, for
100 percent uptime.
• Reduces staff troubleshooting
time by 10 percent.
• Streamlines security policy-
setting, enabling complex
rules to be grouped together
in sets due to design
improvements.
• Allows policy rules to be
easily upgraded.
• Unable to define policy re
how 802.1X-compatible
and non-compatible
devices accessed network
due to design limitation,
increasing network risk.
• Had issues with profiling
that would cause server
crashes when enabled.
• Experienced influx of
wireless devices brought on
campus by students,
faculty, and staff, requiring
secure network access and
increasing load, complexity,
and staff support needed.
• Transitioned to Cisco Identity
Services Engine (ISE) 1.2 to
facilitate consistent, secure
wireless network access by
students bringing range of
devices on campus,
broadening reach of bring-
your-own-device (BYOD)
policy.
• Cisco ISE 1.2
Cisco NAC
• Cisco AnyConnect®
• Cisco ASA 5585 Firewalls with
Cisco IPS SSP 10 Sensors
• Cisco Wireless LAN
Controllers 5500
“With the converged Cisco
solution, we can now
centralize monitoring and
management for all our
resources and provide better
support and services to users
without increasing IT staff.”
— Brian C. Young, Infrastructure
Manager, Adena Health System
“Our goal is to get as
many people on our
network as quickly,
securely, and reliably as
possible without our
involvement. ISE 1.2
enables us to do that.”
-- Rob Tavoularis, Netw ork
Administrator, William
Paterson University