Hundreds of thousands saved makes Absolute a “no brainer” for Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools
Customer Company Size
Large Corporate
Region
- America
Country
- United States
Product
- Absolute
- Apple Computers
Tech Stack
- Cloud-based Solution
- Endpoint Security
Implementation Scale
- Enterprise-wide Deployment
Impact Metrics
- Cost Savings
- Customer Satisfaction
- Digital Expertise
Technology Category
- Cybersecurity & Privacy - Endpoint Security
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Computing
Applicable Industries
- Education
Applicable Functions
- Facility Management
- Business Operation
Use Cases
- Theft Detection
- Remote Asset Management
- Cybersecurity
Services
- Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services
- Cybersecurity Services
About The Customer
The core mission for Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools (KCKPS) is to eliminate achievement gaps and ensure that all students reach a high level of success. To foster student achievement, the district firmly believes in integrating technology into instruction. As such, it launched a 1:1 computing program in 2007. KCKPS has since seen great gains in student success. KCKPS looked to establish a 1:1 computing program that would provide 6,000 Apple computers to its students and teachers. Underlying this initiative was a desire to extend learning opportunities beyond the regular school day, and so the proposed program allowed students to take their laptops home each night.
The Challenge
When first told of plans for the 1:1 program, the school, parents, and the local community voiced a common concern: that of student safety. With devices come theft and the misdemeanors that surround it. What if students were bullied to hand over their laptop? Would the program attract thieves? And how could an already tight IT budget overcome the sunken costs of loss due to theft? For KCKPS, proving that these concerns were addressed was a crucial step in gaining approval.
The Solution
Joe Fives, Director of Technology & Information Services for KCKPS, knew that an adaptive endpoint security solution was a solid first step in easing concerns of student safety. After evaluating a number of products, he selected Absolute. Tight resources meant that any technology selected needed to be quick and inexpensive to implement. Because the solution is delivered via the cloud, it requires no additional infrastructure. The installation process was also compatible with the school’s imaging process for Apple computers. “Absolute is very easy to deploy in large numbers so it eased concerns of a long, complicated implementation process. We were literally done installation in a matter of days.” Fives worked to ensure that both the school and local community were educated on Absolute and its theft recovery capabilities. KCKPS promoted Absolute, not only as a reliable recourse for theft, but also, a valuable theft deterrent. The district opted to put Stop Theft stickers on each machine to remind potential thieves that tracking software was in place. A final step to gain the school board’s approval, KCKPS needed to show how it would effectively manage program costs. The Service Guarantee became an important element in proving the school’s cost accountability. If Absolute is unable to recover a stolen computer, the customer is eligible to receive up to $1,000.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
Case Study missing?
Start adding your own!
Register with your work email and create a new case study profile for your business.
Related Case Studies.
Case Study
Revolutionizing Medical Training in India: GSL Smart Lab and the LAP Mentor
The GSL SMART Lab, a collective effort of the GSL College of Medicine and the GSL College of Nursing and Health Science, was facing a challenge in providing superior training to healthcare professionals. As clinical medicine was becoming more focused on patient safety and quality of care, the need for medical simulation to bridge the educational gap between the classroom and the clinical environment was becoming increasingly apparent. Dr. Sandeep Ganni, the director of the GSL SMART Lab, envisioned a world-class surgical and medical training center where physicians and healthcare professionals could learn skills through simulation training. He was looking for different simulators for different specialties to provide both basic and advanced simulation training. For laparoscopic surgery, he was interested in a high fidelity simulator that could provide basic surgical and suturing skills training for international accreditation as well as specific hands-on training in complex laparoscopic procedures for practicing physicians in India.
Case Study
IoT platform Enables Safety Solutions for U.S. School Districts
Designed to alert drivers when schoolchildren are present, especially in low-visibility conditions, school-zone flasher signals are typically updated manually at each school. The switching is based on the school calendar and manually changed when an unexpected early dismissal occurs, as in the case of a weather-event altering the normal schedule. The process to reprogram the flashers requires a significant effort by school district personnel to implement due to the large number of warning flashers installed across an entire school district.
Case Study
Implementing Robotic Surgery Training Simulator for Enhanced Surgical Proficiency
Fundacio Puigvert, a leading European medical center specializing in Urology, Nephrology, and Andrology, faced a significant challenge in training its surgical residents. The institution recognized the need for a more standardized and comprehensive training curriculum, particularly in the area of robotic surgery. The challenge was underscored by two independent studies showing that less than 5% of residents in Italian and German residency programs could perform major or complex procedures by the end of their residency. The institution sought to establish a virtual reality simulation lab that would include endourological, laparoscopic, and robotic platforms. However, they needed a simulator that could replicate both the hardware and software of the robotic Da Vinci console used in the operating room, without being connected to the actual physical console. They also required a system that could provide both basic and advanced simulation training, and a metrics system to assess the proficiency of the trainees before they performed surgical procedures in the operating theater.
Case Study
Edinburgh Napier University streamlines long-distance learning with Cisco WebEX
• Geographically dispersed campus made in-person meetings costly and inconvenient.• Distance-learning programs in Malaysia, India, and China required dependable, user-friendly online tools to maximize interaction in collaborative workspaces.• Virtual learning environment required a separate sign-in process, resulting in a significant administrative burden for IT staff and limited adoption of collaboration technology.
Case Study
8x increased productivity with VKS
Before VKS, a teacher would spend a lot of time showing a group of 22 students how to build a set of stairs within a semester of 120 hours. Along with not leaving the teacher much time to provide one-on-one support for each student to properly learn carpentry, it also left a considerable amount of room for error. Key information would be misinterpreted or lost as the class was taught in the typical show-and-tell way.
Case Study
Scalable IoT Empowering GreenFlex's Sustainable Growth
GreenFlex, a company that supports sustainable development, decarbonization, and energy efficiency, faced several challenges in its quest to expand its business. The company needed to deploy a robust and sustainable IoT technology to support its growth. It was crucial for them to monitor and control devices at customer sites in a safe and reliable manner. They also needed to integrate devices across a range of communication protocols and gather and act on data to meet efficiency targets. GreenFlex had previously built IoT capabilities into its digital platform, GreenFlexIQ, to monitor and manage customer sites remotely. However, they soon realized that they needed a new platform to support their ambitions. They needed a platform that could scale to connect more devices for production management and make it easier for the operations team to manage devices in the field.
