Case Study: Northeast Texas Community College achieves automated network security and simplified IT operations with Fortinet

Revving up Security Automation for a Community College’s Lean IT Team

Northeast Texas Community College (NTCC), a five‑campus school serving about 3,000 students, faced growing ransomware risk and administrative strain as a lean IT team of four struggled to secure and manage a patchwork of standalone security devices, switches, and access points across multiple buildings. The college needed a simpler, more unified way to protect large volumes of sensitive data (like transcripts) and reduce the time spent on routine network maintenance.

NTCC consolidated its infrastructure on the Fortinet Security Fabric—deploying FortiGate NGFW with the UTP bundle, FortiMail, FortiSwitch, FortiAP, FortiMonitor, FortiAnalyzer, FortiAuthenticator, and FortiToken—replacing seven discrete devices, 74 legacy switches and more than 100 APs. The result: single‑pane visibility and automated alerts, drastic reduction in network and security administration, faster deployments (switch upgrades cut from six weeks to days), easier audits, and more time for strategic security work and service improvements, with plans to expand Fortinet coverage further.

Northeast Texas Community College

Sebastian Barron

Director of Computer and Technical Services