SOMERSET, N.J. - May 5, 2004 - Netilla ® Networks, Inc., a leading provider of SSL VPN and secure application access management solutions, today announced Southern University and the Lumberton, N.J. School District as its latest customers in the education market. These institutions have adopted the Netilla Security Platform as a secure, cost-effective means of providing students, faculty and staff with secure “anytime, anywhere” access to key educational applications from any Internet-enabled PC.

"We're seeing surprisingly rapid sales growth in the educational sector, as schools and universities learn how Netilla's secure access solutions can enable teachers, students and staff to work flexibly on their own schedule from any Web-enabled PC," said Bryan Bain, vice president of marketing and corporate development at Netilla Networks. "By making a school's existing client/server applications securely accessible beyond campus walls, our Netilla Security Platform serves as the engine for the emerging virtual classroom."

At Southern University, Baton Rouge, La., the College of Engineering has deployed the Netilla Security Platform to provide engineering students with access to graphics-intensive computer-aided design (CAD) applications such as AutoCAD and Unigraphics from home, dorm, apartment, or anywhere with an Internet connection. The adoption of Netilla has freed up space in the on-campus engineering lab and has boosted student productivity by letting them work according to their own schedule.

“Our instructors are now telling their students, ‘No more excuses – even if the lab is closed, you can get online and work,’” said Scott Woodall, director of IT at Southern University’s College of Engineering. “Many of our students wanted to be able to access all the programs in the lab, but we don’t have 24-hour access to the building. Our Netilla platform lets them work late at night from their home or dorm, which gives them a lot more control over their schedules.”

A New Take on Home Schooling
But the flexibility of the Netilla Security Platform makes it ideal for elementary-school districts as well as for universities. For example, the K-8 th grade Lumberton, N.J. School District is using its Netilla platform primarily to provide teachers with remote access to their full suite of educational applications including SASIxp, a comprehensive student database program, and Microsoft FrontPage, which allows teachers to update their own personalized Web pages from home.

“Our goal was to allow our hard-working teachers to be at home, yet be able to work exactly as if they were sitting at their own PC in the classroom,” said Mark Leung, director of educational technology for the Lumberton School District. “Previously, during busy marking periods, teachers would often go out to dinner and then come back to work in the classrooms. Now, they can prepare lesson plans, enter student data, or do any of their PC-based work from home on any Web-enabled PC. Our teachers are telling us they can’t believe how productive they can be by working from home.”

The Netilla Security Platform (NSP) provides this secure remote access by using a PC’s standard Web browser as a “portal” into the school or university’s computer network. Once they gain access, students or teachers can use any applications just as they would if they were on campus. Unlike earlier generations of VPN (virtual private network) technology, Netilla requires no special VPN software to be configured onto a user’s PC, thus enabling secure access from anywhere – even kiosks and Internet cafes. The NSP includes its own security safeguards and integrates with leading authentication vendors to provide multilayered security.

Netilla’s products are distributed exclusively by independent value-added resellers (VARs), who can realize strong profit margins by delivering turnkey remote access systems to schools and universities.

P & N Technologies, a Netilla Certified Solution Provider based in Baton Rouge, deployed Southern University’s Netilla system. “Schools and universities are an ideal market for the rapid adoption of SSL VPNs because they have large populations of students and faculty who increasingly need to be able to access applications, files and data on a 24-by-7 basis,” said David Martinez, chief operating officer at P&N Technologies.

Lumberton’s Netilla solution was implemented by Advanced Micro Computer Specialists, a Netilla integrator in Horsham, Penn. “We were able to get the Netilla system up and running at Lumberton with marginal effort, without changes to the school’s applications,” reported Advanced Micro’s Vice President Bill Murray. “As word spreads about the advantages of Netilla’s SSL VPN for use in the education market, we expect to see widespread adoption of this technology.”