KACE continued its penetration into the education market with numerous new K-12 and higher education wins in the fourth quarter of 2007. Educational institutions, which have historically been constrained by limited IT budgets and resources, are embracing the award-winning KBOX family of systems management and deployment appliances over costly software-only solution alternatives in record numbers and seeing immediate time and money savings. KACE also announced the availability of special pricing to qualified educational institutions.

An affordable systems management solution is just one piece of the puzzle that educational institutions face today. Just as important, is the time and expertise required by IT staff to deploy, administer, and maintain its computer systems. The KBOX meets all these needs by offering a wide-range of systems management capabilities in a fast-to-deploy, easy-to-use, and self-maintaining appliance. Educational institutions can now enjoy the same benefits as other organizations with much larger budgets and staffs.

“The education industry is one where user downtime is just not an option – students can’t afford to have their education slowed and hampered by persistent IT problems and downtime,” said Rob Meinhardt, CEO and co-founder of KACE. “At the same time, however, today’s IT departments within educational institutions are often left with very few resources and relying on skeleton IT crews, and nevertheless still expected to provide top-notch, quality IT service. The KBOX enables these institutions to save significant time and money by quickly solving the most common pain points suffered by resource-strapped IT departments, so teachers and professors can quickly get back to the business of educating.”

Battle Ground Academy, a college preparatory school based in Tennessee, is one such educational institute who’s taken full advantage of the KBOX’s time and cost savings. The IT department was recently tasked with imaging and patching 600 student computers, which was easily handled in one week.

“The KBOX saves me two days of work every week,” said Peter Perez, network and technical specialist for Battle Ground Academy. “It’s very simple to use and has a short learning curve. We were able to just hook it up and go. It’s become like another person in our IT department, enabling us to grow without having to hire another person. I have worked with other universities, as well as IT departments for local governments, had I been in charge and knowing what I know now; the KBOX would have been the first purchase I made!"

New fourth quarter K-12 customers for KACE included Delaware City Schools, Harker School, and New Buffalo Area Schools, to name a few. In higher education, KACE added University of Florida University Athletic Association, City College of New York, Fanshawe College, and several others to its client roster. These new customers build upon an already impressive foundation of established customers in the industry, including Greater Victoria School District, Academy School District, University of California at San Diego, United States Merchant Marine Academy, Portland Community College, and Maine Maritime Academy, as a sampling.

KACE helps customers save time and money. Systems managers are often forced to wear many hats throughout the day to work on a myriad of IT functions. KACE helps consolidate these functions by providing a single appliance for all projects, while delivering easy-to-use, comprehensive systems management that is affordable. The KBOX family of appliances fulfills all of the systems management needs of a medium enterprise from initial computer deployment to ongoing management and retirement.

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