Case Study: Southeast Community College achieves simplified, centralized portal access and secure authentication with F5 Networks BIG-IP APM

Community College Simplifies Access Management with Centralized Solution from F5

Southeast Community College (SCC) in Lincoln, Nebraska, faced growing complexity and reliability problems with its web portal authentication: a Windows-based Forefront TMG setup required separate internal/external IPs and manual host-file changes on public machines, and a Microsoft password-complexity change left users locked out and the help desk inundated with more than 850 password-related calls. To address this, SCC chose to upgrade its F5 Networks BIG-IP 1500s to BIG-IP 3900 devices and consolidate access management with BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM).

Using F5 Networks’ BIG-IP 3900 running BIG-IP APM and custom iRules, SCC quickly deployed a centralized access policy and a password-expiration redirect that let users reset credentials immediately; the new solution was live the same evening and helped bring password-related calls back to near-normal by the next day. The F5 Networks deployment eliminated per‑machine host-file maintenance, provided reliable portal access for ~19,000 students and ~1,100 faculty/staff, and delivered a scalable DMZ platform that reduced operational burden and supports future growth.

Southeast Community College

Rod Richards

Network Technician