Catholic Education, Diocese of Wagga Wagga

Key stats

• 24 primary schools on one network with 10,000 student, staff, and visitor devices connected
• Reduced site visits by more than 90%
• 220 switches went from taking weeks to update to a matter of days

Overview

Catholic Education, Diocese of Wagga Wagga serves 24 primary schools and five secondary schools.

The Diocese prides itself on being “stronger together” and prioritises the experiences of its students, teachers, and staff. The learning and teaching teams work to maximise the growth and well-being of their students by providing an inspiring learning environment. Their priority is to promote and build communities of learners who experience engaging, purposeful education.

Technology plays a significant role in all aspects of education for the Diocese, from school operations to teacher instruction to the channels of student learning. IT not only helps enhance the teaching and learning at each school location, which are very dispersed, but also promotes collaboration and seamless communication between students and faculty.

Challenge

Recognising the critical role of technology, the Diocese was facing several challenges when trying to modernise their schools. The team was tasked with managing the dispersed locations and limited IT resources while prioritising student experiences and safety and promoting seamless communication.

With our previous network solution, visibility was poor and we were often having issues with troubleshooting. With Meraki, we have central control of the network without the need of on-prem controllers and dedicated teams.

Brad Merchant

Senior Technical Services Officer, Catholic Education, Diocese of Wagga Wagga

Philip Baaten and Brad Merchant serve as Senior Technical Services Officers at the organisation’s headquarters in Wagga Wagga, overseeing a team of eight technical staff who support the Diocese at large. At each secondary school, a small technical team manages the site under their guidance.

The management of such a large number of schools with a limited support staff presents a unique set of challenges. Budget constraints are a common issue faced by many educational institutions, and the Diocese is no exception. Limited resources make it challenging to attract and retain experienced and skilled staff, specifically IT staff, to develop and manage best- practice solutions.

The Diocese also faces the ongoing challenge of ensuring the security of information, students, and staff due to its wide range of technologies, the broad geographical distance of its schools, and a small technology team. These issues are a constant focus for Philip and Brad, who work diligently to ensure that the organisation’s technical infrastructure remains secure and up-to-date to support a seamless and safe learning environment.

Solution

The decision to partner with Meraki proved instrumental in addressing the network management challenges faced by Catholic Education, Diocese of Wagga Wagga. Leveraging the Meraki comprehensive suite of solutions, including the intuitive dashboard, indoor and outdoor MV smart cameras, and cloud-managed switches, the Diocese achieved a transformative network infrastructure.

I would describe our relationship with Meraki as a great partnership. When we first deployed the Meraki solution, we were blown away by the ability to clone networks and deploy ridiculously quickly,- and we continue to be impressed by the scalability of it all.

Philip Baaten

Senior Technical Officer, Catholic Education, Diocese of Wagga Wagga

The Meraki MV smart cameras have been the perfect solution for the distributed geographical nature of the schools. They work well at low- bandwidth sites and don’t require additional DVRs or equipment to be installed. MV cameras allow each school to manage their smart surveillance fleet independently of other schools across the Diocese, ensuring the Diocese meets their internal security requirements.

Results

The implementation of Meraki solutions has delivered remarkable improvements in network management capabilities for Catholic Education, Diocese of Wagga Wagga. A key benefit has been the streamlining of operations.- IT can spend less time troubleshooting the network, which has eliminated the need for a dedicated network team, and resulted in substantial cost savings for the organisation.

The intuitive and user-friendly interface of the Meraki dashboard has empowered even IT technicians with limited experience to administer and manage the network with ease. By providing a unified platform, Meraki has streamlined end-to-end troubleshooting and administration, simplifying the management of the organisation’s network infrastructure and reducing site visits by over 90%.

Configuration and deployment of switching and network infrastructure has become remarkably straightforward. Previously, updating all 220 switches would take weeks, but with Meraki, this task is now accomplished within days, with minimal impact to users. This not only saves time but also ensures the network remains up-to-date with the latest security features and protocols,- and helps minimise interruptions to daily operations and teacher instruction.

Thanks to the centralised management capabilities of Meraki, the small network team led by Philip can effortlessly oversee the 29 school sites. The ability to duplicate configurations between schools has revolutionised the deployment of new sites, enabling swift and efficient expansion as enrollments increase.

With reliable, fast connections and a user-friendly solution in place, Catholic Education, Diocese of Wagga Wagga is well-positioned to continue its growth and expansion while staying committed to delivering the best possible learning experiences to its ever-increasing student body.