Innovation and Continuity: Cisco Meraki in the Education Sector

That is the story of how the Juan Misael Saracho Autonomous College in Bolivia efficiently overcame important technological infrastructure challenges by adopting Cisco Meraki. To delve deeper into this journey, we spoke with Henry Jurado, Networking and Communication Supervisor, who offered insights into the optimistic influence that this expertise has had on their establishment.

A story of adaptation and steady enchancment

Situated in Tarija, Bolivia—a metropolis within the southern a part of the nation at an altitude of 1,834 meters above sea degree—Juan Misael Saracho Autonomous College (UAJMS) is probably the most distinguished establishment within the area and has been increasing to varied provinces lately. With a imaginative and prescient of being a number one and progressive establishment, it has been implementing info and communication applied sciences since 2008, incorporating new options 12 months after 12 months. Nonetheless, from 2018 to 2022, they confronted a number of technological challenges, together with these arising from the pandemic. This example revealed a number of shortcomings of their capability to assist and facilitate distance studying.

With the earlier expertise, wi-fi deployment required important technological and monetary sources. Moreover, it took a substantial period of time and human effort to increase the wi-fi community, particularly within the provinces the place there was a excessive demand for brand spanking new community entry.

Henry tells us that till then, the college had been utilizing a 2012 expertise based mostly on a wi-fi structure with a few high-availability controllers. This method initially managed over 270 wi-fi antennas, and over time, they expanded this technique to have greater than 350 antennas deployed throughout the college campus. Nonetheless, with the college’s development, the necessity for a extra sturdy and scalable answer grew to become evident.

The turning level: The necessity for change

The preliminary expertise they had been utilizing offered a top quality wi-fi sign for the necessities of that point. Nonetheless, because the variety of community customers elevated, problems started to emerge. Many customers tried to connect with a single wi-fi machine, resulting in important disconnection and cargo balancing points. They reached a degree the place they acknowledged that the capability of the present expertise had reached its restrict. Though the structure had functioned effectively for years, the surge in consumer demand and the elevated variety of units that college students now use (no less than two or three units per pupil) prompted them to go for expertise that would not solely keep the standard of the wi-fi sign but additionally deal with excessive volumes of consumer visitors.

The rising demand from customers and the rising variety of units employed by college students prompted us to decide on expertise that not solely ensures the standard of the wi-fi sign however also can assist excessive volumes of consumer visitors.

Discovering Cisco Meraki

It was then that Juan Misael Saracho Autonomous College found Cisco Meraki. Providing a extra sturdy and scalable wi-fi structure, Cisco Meraki appeared to be the answer they desperately wanted. Hoping to open new areas and eventualities for college kids to connect with educational and administrative programs, the college determined to implement this new wi-fi expertise.With Cisco’s staff’s assist, the college started transitioning to Cisco Meraki, adopting a 100% cloud-managed wi-fi community infrastructure. The implementation was a powerful success, with important enhancements in community administration and a discount in operational prices. Because of this, they observed an unlimited distinction in key metrics. The primary is the variety of customers {that a} single entry level can assist with the brand new expertise. Furthermore, they now have unified community administration by means of the Meraki Dashboard, which permits them to have full visibility and make real-time choices based mostly on analytics.

College students utilizing the Wi-Fi community

Strengthening the connection with Cisco and trying to the longer term

Juan Misael Saracho Autonomous College has maintained a relationship with Cisco since 2006, and the implementation of Cisco Meraki has helped to strengthen this bond. All through the method, Cisco’s staff offered fixed assist, making certain that the college might totally leverage its new infrastructure.Seeking to the longer term, the college is happy concerning the alternatives that Cisco Meraki will proceed to supply.

With the brand new expertise, they had been in a position to cut back occasions and operational prices. They will now preconfigure their tools and handle all the things from a principal Dashboard. This has optimized their sources, assured community entry for all customers, and improved the administration and administration of their community.

Suggestion for others

Henry Jurado, Networking and Communication Supervisor at Juan Misael Saracho Autonomous College , recommends contemplating a model with engineering capabilities that may assist analyze varied components on a technical degree, very like the Cisco staff does. It’s essential that the chosen expertise is suitable and might combine seamlessly with the remainder of the infrastructure to supply a broader imaginative and prescient, enhanced administration and administration, and the flexibility to make real-time choices on the community.

By way of the implementation of Cisco Meraki, Juan Misael Saracho Autonomous College has turned its challenges into successes and has dramatically improved the expertise for its college students and employees. It is a story of how the proper expertise can’t solely remedy issues but additionally unlock new alternatives and prospects.