Jefferson-Lewis Board of Cooperative Educational Services Case Study
M+NetMail and M+Guardian are a Perfect Fit for Jefferson-Lewis Board of Cooperative Educational Services
Case Study
Objective: Deployment of M+NetMail & M+Guardian in the same environment
Background
Acting as a central facility to provide services to its 18 component schools, BOCES's mission is to provide these services while keeping costs down. BOCES's services fall into three main groups. The Career/Technical Education programs let master craftsmen prepare students for a range of trades by exposing them to settings like those they'll encounter in the work force. In the Exceptional Students programs, Special Education teachers develop individualized programs for students with unique educational needs. Third, BOCES provides miscellaneous services such as a peer support program and substitute teacher training.
The BOCES NetMail messaging system has been in place for more than 11 years and supports 570 teachers and staff on two campuses. BOCES recently moved to M+NetMail, based on the positive experience it had working with M+Guardian. M+NetMail and M+Guardian combine to give BOCES the streamlined, secure, spam-free messaging system it needs.
M+NetMail: Standards-Based, Streamlined, and Stable
When Messaging Architects announced it was taking over NetMail, BOCES saw the transition as a positive step in the evolution of the product. "I've always had a really great experience working with M+Guardian,” says Nyle Landas, Technology Coordinator for Jefferson-Lewis BOCES. “So, when I found out Messaging Architects was taking over NetMail, and that they were going to continue developing it, I was pretty pleased.” The team working on M+NetMail includes many of the same Novell people who had worked on the NetMail code, and they are committed to an open-standards approach to messaging and calendaring. "Messaging Architects is committed to open standards,” says Landas. “That's where I want to see the industry go."
For Landas, M+NetMail's two strongest attributes are stability and ease of back-up. “It's very stable -- it runs itself, really” Landas says. “As far as back-ups go, you back up the data directories and you're done. With most of these other big, database-driven systems, you need custom clients to back them up. Then, you still wonder whether your backups are working. If you want to restore an individual mailbox, it can be difficult," he adds.
When BOCES deployed NetMail years ago, it was looking for a streamlined messaging product that would be easy to use, regardless of the technical skills of the user. Landas is pleased to see M+NetMail evolving along with his user base. His users are particularly looking forward to the calendaring features and the new Web interface in the upcoming version of M+NetMail.
M+Guardian: Secure, Spam-Free, and Solid Support
Landas’ decision to deploy M+Guardian to protect his system was the result of the deterioration in support after the anti-spam product he was using at the time was acquired by another company. In comparison, “Messaging Architects' support engineers are phenomenal. They are quick to respond and they've been able to help me through any problems I've had," says Landas.
Since deploying M+Guardian, Landas has been pleased with the spam catch rates, as well as the the ease of administration. His end users get regular quarantine reports and are able manage their own block and safe lists. One key feature for BOCES is M+Guardian's zero-hour anti-virus technology. This process proactively scans the Internet and identifies virus outbreaks the instant they appear, and before security vendors make their signature updates. This closes the early-hours vulnerability gap when many systems get infected. “The zero-day virus-check was a big deal for us,” says Landas. “Before there were viruses sneaking through; now M+Guardian is catching all those.”
Using M+NetMail and M+Guardian have enabled Landas to provide his users a robust, secure, and extremely cost-effective messaging infrastructure.
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