Multimedia Enterprise in Collegiate Sports Marketing, Learfield Communications Opts for Ctera

Ctera Networks Ltd announced that Learfield Communications, Inc., a diverse multimedia enterprise in collegiate sports marketing, has selected Ctera’s Enterprise File Services Platform to deliver secure, private file services to its distributed employee base.

Learfield will deploy Ctera’s cloud storage gateways across more than 120 branch offices in the US and issue Ctera enterprise file sync and share (EFSS) licenses to more than 800 employees around the country. Employees who spend time both in local offices and off-site at college sporting events will be able to access and share files from any device and location, while Learfield IT will gain support efficiencies through secure, central management and IT-as-a-Service delivery of file services that extend to the farthest reaches of their network.

The Ctera platform is hosted from Learfield’s Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) on Amazon Web Services (AWS), where the combined solution will reduce TCO over Learfield’s previous file services solution comprised of multiple hardware and software components.

The solution delivers additional benefits, including:

• A single platform for EFSS and gateways, offering cloud access to files anywhere, as well as faster, persistent local access to files via NAS access
• Central management of user agents and cloud storage gateway appliances to reduce IT overhead
• A private data management model that secures all data, metadata and encryption in the Learfield firewall within AWS
• The ability to sync data from Windows servers to AWS for fast file sharing with roaming users
• Server backup and built-in DR through which Learfield can retain an infinite number of gateway snapshots in the cloud
  

“Ctera on AWS offers all of the features and functionality that are truly important to us,” said Phil Atkinson, VP of IT, Learfield. “The Ctera platform addresses our users’ needs for onsite and offsite file access and data protection where we can securely maintain control of our files within our cloud infrastructure. Administratively, the platform’s automated service delivery and management tools enable us to efficiently manage hundreds of users and rapidly deploy file services while ensuring comprehensive control and data governance across a complex and geographically distributed organization.“

“Distributed operational models present challenges for IT administrators who need oversight and control over files created and shared across many offices and many roaming users,” said Jeff Denworth, SVP marketing, Ctera. “We’re happy to partner with Learfield to provide a unified solution for integrating and managing remote storage and file access that enables a holistic approach to secure, private enterprise file services.“