Case Study: Meredith College achieves simplified network management and enhanced security with Fortinet Security Fabric

North Carolina College Makes Network Management Easier by Consolidating with the Fortinet Security Fabric

Meredith College, a private women’s liberal arts college in Raleigh serving about 2,000 students, needed a network modernization after its legacy vendor raised prices and its aging switches could no longer meet growing PoE and connectivity demands. The college also faced increased on‑campus security risks from many connected devices and the impending retirement of a long‑time network engineer, prompting a move to consolidate and simplify its infrastructure.

Meredith selected Fortinet after piloting FortiGate NGFWs and consolidated across campus—deploying FortiGate, FortiSwitch, FortiClient, FortiVoice/FortiFone (600 IP phones) and planning 800 FortiAPs—while adding active‑standby failover. The Security Fabric delivered easier management, greater visibility and endpoint protection, improved resilience, lower total cost of ownership, and stronger vendor support.

Meredith College

Jeff Howlett

Chief Information Officer