Case Study: Hutto Independent School District achieves ransomware protection and scalable digital learning with VMware

Hutto Isd Embraces a New Generation Of Security While Offering New Digital Experiences to Students

Hutto Independent School District, a rapidly growing K–12 district near Austin that expanded from about 1,000 to over 7,000 students across 10 campuses, needed to scale digital classroom services while securing sensitive student and health data. With just nine IT staff, the district faced a prior ransomware incident, regulatory requirements (HIPAA, FERPA, PCI), and network performance bottlenecks from router-based policy enforcement as device and student numbers surged.

Hutto modernized its data center with VMware vSphere, NSX micro-segmentation, AppDefense for automated threat detection and response, and Horizon VDI to deliver classroom resources on Chromebooks. The changes flattened the network, eliminated hardware, improved security posture (no ransomware penetrations since deployment), maintained compliance, supported growth without adding headcount, reclaimed student lab time, and yielded about $250,000/year in energy savings.

Hutto Independent School District

Chris Harding

Network Administrator