Khipu Testimonials
Updated December 2008
Prior to deploying Bradford Campus Manager we had to perform a manual security and virus check of every student machine arriving on campus, a process that prohibited students from accessing the network for days, even weeks at a time. With Campus Manager in place, manual checks have been eliminated entirely and virtually all students can now access network resources on day one.
By introducing a NAC-based system, we can ensure that every student gets straight onto the network as soon as he or she arrives. Students can do so securely and seamlessly, and our staff can support them remotely, at the drop of a hat
Mark Flexman, Head of IT Infrastructure, Bournemouth University
"By introducing the remote scan to our students prior to them arriving at our University, has significantly improved their user experience, as it allows them or their parents to check their device from home, to ensure it has the correct level of criteria (Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware, Microsoft/Apple Mac service packs) to meet our Acceptable Use Policy. This then improves not only the student experience but also decreases registration time, meaning more students on line quicker with no IT support intervention. We had 6000 students register within 5 days with very little impact on our service desk."
Andrew Stansfield, Durham University
One of the other things we like about the Bradford solution is that we maintain complete control over the system. A number of similar NAC-based solutions are sold in the UK as managed systems and that level of control wasnt something we were ready to give up. Having the equipment on site and being able to see whats actually happening with it, in real-time is a huge help in issue mitigation and resolution.
Bradfords agent-less solution, proved particularly compelling, especially when it came to the so-called day release community: transient users who are typically sponsored by an external agency, company or organization. The day-release students use laptops that are supplied by their companys own IT departments. Those laptops are effectively locked down and we do not have the ability or the inclination to install a software agent on their machines. Bradfords ability to employ a one-off scan with its own agent and without compromising an individuals, or a companys, installed security software was ideal.
Bahram Tavakoli,Head of Information Communications Technology, Edinburghs Telford College
Once Id seen what Bradford Campus Manager could do it was a no-brainer, especially when it was so obviously designed for a university environment. Its flexibility and the dynamic nature of how it deals with users and machines work very well for us. It was perfect.
I met with the team from Khipu Networks, who have been working with universities and colleges for over three years with the Bradford Campus Manager system. When they demonstrated its functionality, it did exactly what we wanted it to do: dynamic management of switched ports based on user credentials stored in our e-directory system. As a result, we could use the students existing Novell user names and passwords, which they already used for logging into Windows workstations and for wireless access. Through Campus Manager we found how much information we could glean from each machine and liked it even more.
Unlike some of the solutions we looked at that sat on the firewall and brought network traffic to a crawl, Bradford Campus Manager is an out-of-band solution that does not sit between the college and the Internet backbone. We could maintain our fast connection and give up nothing on the back end.
James Dore, IT Officer, New College, University of Oxford
This solution has enabled the IT Help Line and IT Support staff to solve queries at significantly faster rate by presenting them and the users with useful and relevant information gathered and displayed during the registration process. Before the NAC deployment, infected devices were not only seriously impairing the performance and availability of the network, they were also taking up a lot of time and resources to track and clean-up. We were so impressed with the success of Khipus solution to protect our Residential Network, that it made perfect sense to deploy the technology across the whole campus.
Phil Harrison, University of Nottingham
"Today's students and staff rely on the internet and networked resources to conduct research, complete coursework and collaborate on projects. Alcatel-Lucent new wireless networks will improve the way our students learn through a secure and simple to use solution fully integrated with the university's existing technology."
Maggie Stephens, director of learning and information services. Thames Valley University
The enforcement of security prior to connection reduces the risk to each student from other machines, as well as ensuring that their own machine is at minimum risk. The data collected by BCM is available to support staff, and can help diagnose problems when students visit for help. We are able to track the type of OS used and numbers of machines using the network easily, and can use this to inform our planning and support.
Our migration to BCM helped us achieve our planned aims of extending and improving the SBS service to ensure supply meets demand such that students can connect as soon as they arrive, and to provide facilities which are easy to use no prior application is now needed. Further work this year to refine the registration process will improve ease of use further. This includes online access to fuller instructions on our main web site, and online access to University licensed antivirus software, previously distributed on CD, but now available via password controlled access on the network, prior to full connection.
Jim Higham, Helpdesk Manager, University of Kent
"Khipu Networks had experience in implementing High Availability network services for NHS sites and were able to offer the solution at a cost point that we could achieve. The benefits of the appliance platform were clear to us; we could no longer afford to run DNS and DHCP from our domain controllers and the Infoblox appliances provided the services we needed and increased availability to 99.999%"
Network Manager, Poole Hospital
"We worked with Khipu Networks in a design workshop where our Microsoft, Infrastructure and Security team discussed the minimum and ideal requirements for Network Services and we enlisted the Khipu Networks team to provide information for our business case from two angles; technology and the investment required. We were impressed by their understanding of our requirements and the output of Khipu Networks consultancy team. The Infoblox solution would provide us with a more effective, available, secure and resilient solution whilst decreasing the administration required so it was an easy choice to make"
Mark Walker, Sussex HIS
We found Khipu Networks approach very helpful, the team took time to understand our requirements, design a suitable solution and gave us options so that we felt in control of the selection of technology and vendor. The IB have chosen a VPN technology that includes the ability for users across any site to access centrally located information at any time of the day or night across all time-zones. We had a requirement to implement in stages and Khipu Networks flexibility has helped us in having confidence in the suggested solution. Additionally, as the solution will be managed from a single site, we felt that the ability to monitor the devices as well as control and manage policies in any region without the need for additional investment was a particular feature we liked.
Ceri Evans, ICT Services Manager
"Khipu Networks solution had been tried and tested in University environments but we saw that there were some clear synergies with what we wanted to achieve with our new Wireless network. The Campus Manager solution perfectly suits college requirements for students, staff and visitors and we considered it to be the only education focussed solution available. It was an easy choice for us!"
Phil Templeton, Weymouth College
"Khipu Networks are a pleasure to work with, dynamic and fast thinking, they deliver secure scalable solutions to businesses of any size, on time and within budget, maximising the return on investment that you make"
Chris Derham - Channel Manager UK (Data) Alcatel-Lucent
"We chose the solution as it gave us piece of mind from a security perspective, being the most secure solution available on the market that we could find. The Khipu Networks team were very approachable and gave us all the information we needed to make a decision. The team surveyed our site and helped us to understand exactly where and how many access points were required as well as how we could accommodate these in our cabinets and current switches. They enabled us to focus on the Gallerys effectiveness prior to a full network update"
Ann Lahiff, IT Development and Infrastructure Manager, The National Portrait Gallery
"When we met with Khipu Networks, it was clear that they understood the impacts on our organisation of any downtime, not just from a loss of services perspective, but also the impacts on our teams perception within the organisation and the public image of the IBO. This has given us confidence in Khipus design of our network and as a partner for the future"
Ceri Evans, ICT Services Manager, IBO
"Khipu Networks are one of our most successful Alcatel-Lucent WLAN partners within the UK and Ireland. We have been exceptionally pleased with their focus and technical capabilities, having deployed our WLAN solution into a wide range of different environments across different vertical markets"
Bob Vickers UK General Manager. Aruba Networks
"The Bradford Campus Manager solution combined with the Alcatel-Lucent Wireless platform has enabled us to expand our services to all of our pupils without opening up our network to Viruses, Spyware and other malicious software. Pupils and authorised guests can use their own laptops to securely connect either via wired and/or wireless to academic resources including files, mail and the internet without compromising network security. The system ensures their laptops are up to date with Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware and are not running banned applications such as Peer to Peer. One of the key reasons of selecting this solution from Khipu Networks was for the pupils to be able to use their own existing laptops whatever the operating system therefore protecting their parents investment"
Bill Burles, Kent College Pembury
Having chosen Cisco Systems as a standard for our wired network and Aruba Networks technology for our wireless network, we wanted a vendor independent solution that would provide best-of-breed port security, a Network Access Control solution was the best technology we could see would suit our requirements. Deploying one of the in-line solutions meant there was a risk of outages and a limit on scalability for our network. We needed a solution that would also have minimum impact on the users and the client-less approach from Khipu Networks solution met all our criteria as a hospital
Ryan Hewitt, Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust
"The Alcatel-Lucent and Bradford Networks integrated solution provides our students and staff with high-speed, easy and secure access to University resources from a range of mobile devices, wherever they are on the campus. By automatically identifying and authenticating users as they connect, the solution also keeps the network secure a key issue with wireless networks"
Tristan Warbey, Homerton College
The enforcement of security prior to connection reduces the risk to each student from other machines, as well as ensuring that their own machine is at minimum risk. The data collected by BCM is available to support staff, and can help diagnose problems when students visit for help. We are able to track the type of OS used and numbers of machines using the network easily, and can use this to inform our planning and support. Our migration to BCM helped us achieve our planned aims of extending and improving the Study Bedroom Service (SBS) service to ensure supply meets demand such that students can connect as soon as they arrive, and to provide facilities which are easy to use no prior application is now needed. Further work this year to refine the registration process will improve ease of use further. This includes online access to fuller instructions on our main web site, and online access to University licensed anti virus software, previously distributed on CD, but now available via password controlled access on the network, prior to full connection
Jim Higham, University of Kent
"So much time and resources were consumed each start of academic year and after Christmas tracking and disinfecting students PCs that didnt have basic protection installed. The Campus Manager implementation has been a great success. This has ensured each student PC that is attached to the SNS network is compliant with the University Information Security Policy, protected and safe from known viruses, spyware and Microsoft vulnerabilities. It has made a dramatic effect to improving network availability and performance to our customers"
Chris Tadman, University of Nottingham
"This year over 6,300 students in Nottinghams Halls of Residence registered on the SNS. In previous years the start of term was fraught with infected student PCs which did not have Anti-virus or critical updates applied. Some machines had no protection at all. Consequently there were periods when the student network was saturated with traffic generated by worms and viruses which seriously impaired performance and availability of the network."
Richard Smeeton, University of Nottingham
"Feedback from the users was a worrying concern for us, however to date, we have received very positive comments from our user base, giving us the confidence when rolling out the solution to new departments"
Diana Dainton, University of Liverpool
"The evaluation process was very strict, as we had to ensure the solution would fit into our environment and provide a flexible, non-complex process for our users to access our network without comprising security or effecting their academic life. We needed a NAC solution that would remove the issues we have experienced when users / devices connect into our network. Viruses, Spyware outbreaks, peer to peer networking are all common issues a number of institutions experience, as well as needing to know what and who is connected into their networks in order to meet audit compliance rules and regulations"
Chris Wooff, University of Liverpool
With our new student laptop scheme, we needed to ensure that our network would be protected from these devices, since we are not managing or maintaining them. The investment into the Campus Manager System, will allow us to control and manage the student devices to ensure they are not ridden with problems before accessing our clean network
David Riggs, College of St Marks and St John
During the evaluation stages, the Khipu team ensured that all of our NAC requirements were met, tried and tested. The Bradford Campus Manager System, along with Khipu's technical expertise and experience within the NAC arena, proved to be the best solution out there for our Cisco wired and wireless networks, hence our decision to award the Khipu team the NAC contract. The solution will be rolled out across our entire student and campus networks to secure and manage the users and devices that connect into our environment
Amin Pradhan, Birmingham College of Food, Tourism and Creative Studies
"With our diverse range of users and devices requiring access to our network, we needed a solution that would provide a central point of control and accountability. We considered Bradford Campus Manager, as this solution had been implemented by a number of Universities, especially within our MAN (NorMAN). Having evaluated a number of different options, we selected Campus Manager since it met and exceeded all of our requirements for NAC. The 'client-less' scan being a key function that ensures a device meets our Acceptable Use Policy without causing any problems or difficulties for the users accessing the network. We have seen huge improvements on our network, from not only a performance perspective (no viruses or spyware) but also management is now simple and central. The system is being extended to our wireless network in the forthcoming months"
Janet Smith, University of Teesside
"Prior to the installation of Campus Manager, we had very little control over the deployment of essential software to student machines. Viruses and ad/spyware were a significant problem. The introduction of Campus Manager gave us the ability to ensure that the appropriate software e.g. antivirus and ad/spyware were installed on computers connected to the student network and to ensure that Windows update was configured correctly thereby ensuring the computers were regularly patched. This in turn resulted in a significant reduction in the number of infected machines. The benefits for the students are faster and more stable network connections and computers that are less prone to infection and attack from malware. Connection to the network has also been simplified and the ITS is no longer required to produce 5000+ installation CDs."
Andrew Stansfield, Durham University
"Campus Manager is a very customisable product that can be tailored to suit your own needs and requirements. You have total control over the look and feel of the interface you present to the users and the CSA client is highly configurable."
S. Carr, Systems Consultant, Durham University
"In addition to its machine vetting capability and its initial deployment within our student residence network, we are planning to broaden its use to include mandatory authentication of staff and administrative users across the whole campus LAN. Knowing who is actually using the network will significantly improve on our current 'best efforts' registration scheme."
Paul Jones, Durham University
"I am very pleased that we have selected Khipu Networks to provide an integrated wireless networking and access control security solution for the University of Essex. Our rigorous evaluation identified the Khipu solution as meeting our technical requirements and offering good value for money. We will be working with Khipu over the next few months on the widespread deployment of wireless and security across our campuses to enhance the availability of IT services for students and staff"
Richard Murphy, University of Essex
If you would like to speak to any of our customer references, please contact Khipu
