Petroc College - Case Study
Petroc College is one of the largest in the Devon county, with 750 staff teaching more than 4,000 students.
Petroc College Case Study 2023
Download the complete case study to see how Petroc College protects 5,000 users and prevents 65,000 threats monthly with iboss Zero Trust SASE.
Key Statistics
Overview
Founded in 2008 following the merger of North Devon College and East Devon College, Petroc College is one of the largest in the Devon county, with 750 staff teaching more than 4,000 students. The college is now made up of two campuses after closing a third earlier this year, offering a variety of courses for students of all ages and abilities, including A Levels, vocational courses, T Levels, degrees, apprenticeships and industry short courses. With a focus on student wellbeing, the college acts as a focal point for thousands of students living and studying within the Devon area.
Petroc College's Challenge
As with many other industries, the education sector was hugely affected by the pandemic in 2020, forcing many schools, colleges and universities to evolve their learning experiences in order to continue teaching and to deliver courses. This led to the widespread adoption of hybrid and fully remote ways of working for both students and staff. At Petroc, this meant thousands of devices needed to be protected outside of the campus' perimeter.
This trend of hybrid working has continued despite the UK education sector emerging from the pandemic. These changes have caused massive challenges for education centres, both from a logistics and security perspective. With thousands of devices moving in and out of campuses every day, keeping users secure has never been more complex. With this new way of working and learning, students are now operating 'outside of the fence', multiplying the risk of an online assault and forcing security teams to adapt.
Petroc College's previous IT security model comprised of on-premises equipment which required extensive time and resources to manage, as well as separate access solutions for staff and students based in various locations across the three campuses during that time. The college has a small IT team which, with the rapidly evolving threat landscape and historic, incumbent on-premises system, soon realised a need for external specialist cybersecurity support.
Petroc College's iboss Solution
In July 2023, Petroc was introduced to cybersecurity, Zero Trust and web monitoring specialist, iboss, through Integy, one of the UK's leading IT companies and the college's IT partner. By this point, Petroc's IT team understood that their current operating system was no longer fit for purpose. To remain on top of their security, the college would need to onboard a new security partner and upgrade their cybersecurity stack.
iboss provides cloud security solutions that enable users in any location, using any device, to securely connect to critical resources such as applications and data within an organisation. As a specialist in handling security and safeguarding for education centres, especially in the United States, iboss also aligns itself to specific safeguarding principles when it comes to its policy and web filtering. It incorporates resources such as the Prevent Framework, which allows teams to identify and flag any at-risk behaviour from students that could indicate a safeguarding or wellbeing issue.
Customer Testimonials
Our move to a fully managed web filtering system with iboss and Integy was incredibly smooth, ensuring security for all our devices, no matter where they are. In today's security-driven world, it's the peace of mind we need. Plus, the advanced safeguards give us a deeper insight into our digital landscape.
As an iboss partner, orchestrating the deployment of iboss for the college was a race against time. We collaborated closely with the iboss team to ensure a seamless transition from the incumbent product to iboss across a multitude of platforms, including Windows, iOS, Android, and Chromebooks. With confidence in iboss' capabilities, we believed it would meet the college's needs, and we're thrilled to report that it not only met but exceeded expectations.
Key Results for Petroc College
- Protection for 5,000 users and 2,000 devices
- Prevention of 65,000 threats every 30 days
- Enhanced security posture for educational environment
- Streamlined security management for IT staff
- Cost-effective security solution for education sector
Highlights
- Protection for 5,000 users and 2,000 devices across two campuses
- Prevention of 65,000 threats every 30 days with comprehensive monitoring
- Enhanced security posture for educational environment with zero trust principles
- Streamlined security management for IT staff with centralized control
- Cost-effective security solution specifically designed for education sector
- Integration with safeguarding frameworks including Prevent Framework
- Support for hybrid learning models with security outside campus perimeter