The challenge: Building trust and credibility with partners
WAY Program is an Educational Service Provider (ESP) partnering with local school districts and charter schools (both virtual and blended). It’s built on open access, providing computers and connectivity to families who would otherwise be left out.
The security stakes are high because the WAY Program’s success is built on a distributed access model. The program leaders are keen to recruit students across the state and manage, maintain, and track a fleet of these remote devices.
Mark Ray, network administrator for WAY Program, acknowledges the very real concerns inherent in an online education system. “It’s all about trust,” Mark says. “We’ve been going ten years and we serve grades 6 to 12 all across the state."
The WAY Program model is certified by Cognia (formerly AdvancED), and our charter schools are fully accredited by both Lake Superior State University & Central Michigan University, respectively, and the Michigan Department of Education recognizes all our charter schools. Each of our partners (local schools, & charter schools ) trust WAY Program to have a safe, effective, and secure fleet management system. Our credibility and the trust levels we’ve built are at stake. Our WAY Program assets are scattered across the state, so we need each to be trackable. This is why we chose Senturo.”
The Solution: Get the most of the organization's devices and funding
It was essential for WAY Program to have centralized control of all devices. “The home environment has traditionally been less easy to control than education settings,” says Mark. “Senturo has given us the confidence that should there be any breach; we can remotely take screenshots, lock devices, wipe systems, and remove sensitive data instantly. Our devices are trackable, too, in case they go walkabout, and we can pinpoint the exact location of any device using Google Maps.”
“Our devices go where the need is, state-wide. Laptop lending is a big part of driving down unequal access to education,” says Mark. “This means that some of our devices are in education institutions, and our tutors and experts hold some and some in family homes. Senturo allows me to manage these assets easily and centrally. I can measure asset performance and usage, create a preventative maintenance schedule, and get the most out of our devices and our funding. Senturo makes the whole process streamlined and cost-effective.”
The Senturo dashboard gives Mark and his colleagues instant, real-time visibility of WAY Program’s fleet. At a glance, Mark can check each device’s location, security, and status. “The dashboard is very user-friendly and intuitive,” says Mark,” and it’s visually very pleasing. The simplicity of its design means it’s not one of those frustrating dashboards that add another layer of complexity you don’t need.”
Education settings are complex, and when access to information is dispersed, it can make setting up security systems a nightmare. Senturo’s easy set-up impressed Mark. “The app made it easy to assign devices to deploy mass security settings and multi-user accounts within a shifting fleet. And it just took a couple of minutes. The Senturo support team has been brilliant, too.”
Senturo has given us the confidence that, should there be any breach, we have the ability to remotely take screenshots, lock devices, wipe systems and remove sensitive data instantly. Our devices are trackable, too, in case they go walkabout, and we can pinpoint the exact location of any device using Google maps.
Mark Ray, Network Administrator, WAY Program
The result: A fleet of devices that is completely controlled 24/7
“What’s most important,” continues Mark, ”is that Senturo has given us peace of mind, and our fleet of devices is completely controlled 24/7. And when our security systems are demonstrably trustworthy, WAY Program gains trust and acknowledged excellence that will help us achieve our ambitions.”
