Managing access control for staff and students

Wireless LANs, access from campus residential networks and a range of off-campus access facilities enhance the learning experience, ensuring that users can access data with a choice of convenient methods. This means accommodating a wide variety of client equipment; PCs and PDAs, personal as well as University/College-owned. But in a permanently shifting environment where you see a new student intake each year, it can be very difficult to manage. Protecting your core resources from the potential threats of un-trusted' student and staff devices requires a new approach.

Instead of traditional perimeter security where you were either trusted or untrusted, you need a solution that enables you to build virtual zones of trust' based on the user's identity, what device their using, their access method and location. What's more you need to do it in a pragmatic, simple to manage way that mitigate the risks without locking everything down and making it unusable.

Data Integration can offer a range of Access Control and Identity Management solutions to solve these issues. To determine what sort of solution is most appropriate for your circumstances we need to consider:

• Whether you are building a new network or want to overlay a solution on your existing network
• Your network capabilities (802.1x, virtualization)
• Cost versus degree of control
• Your level of in-house technical administration resources