Santa Rita USD’s IT Team Partners with ManagedMethods to Improve Google Security and Safety

Santa Rita Union School District in Salinas, CA, serves about 3,200 students and employs approximately 350 faculty and staff. As the district embraced Google Workspace for Education, ensuring cybersecurity and student safety in the cloud became paramount. 

Krisha Kerr-Poole, the district’s Director of Technology and Innovation, and her team of five sought an effective solution to manage and secure their Google Workspace environment.
Further, with all the recent news around ransomware hitting K-12 schools, Krisha and the district’s leadership team were motivated to find ways to improve security. This search led them to Cloud Monitor by ManagedMethods, a platform designed to address the specific cybersecurity and safety needs of K-12 schools.

“Trying to use native Google tools is time-consuming and cumbersome. It’s pretty much a monster in terms of having a lot of things to learn. Cloud Monitor is so easy to use and helps us find and resolve a problem fast, which is critical for securing data with a small team.”

Krisha Kerr-Poole,
Director of Technology, Santa Rita USD

The Challenges

Like many other districts, the move to Google Workspace brought significant advantages for Santa Rita USD. But, it also introduced challenges, particularly in managing and securing their data.

The IT team initially relied on Google’s native security tools, which proved cumbersome and inefficient for their small team. “We were using Google’s Admin console for reporting spam and other issues, and Google Vault for investigations, both of which were very cumbersome,” explained Krisha.

The complexity of Google’s tools meant that managing security required navigating multiple platforms and interfaces, which was inefficient.

“Google is pretty much a monster in terms of having a lot of things to learn. Just trying to work to get everything into one place that is easy to manage was a challenge,” Krisha noted.

“Definitely take advantage of the free audit. All the way through, we were able to have meetings, talk through pieces, and if we did have any pain points in our process and learning how to navigate, the ManagedMethods support team was right there with the engineers. They were even taking some of our feedback which was really nice in terms of little nuances that could probably be tweaked.”

Krisha Kerr-Poole,
Director of Technology, Santa Rita USD

Krisha needed a more streamlined solution that wouldn’t overwhelm her small IT team. This fragmented approach made it difficult to maintain comprehensive oversight and quick response times, creating a risky situation from a cybersecurity and safety standpoint.

The Solution

ManagedMethods provides the comprehensive solution, purpose-built for K-12, that Santa Rita USD needs. 

“We liked the idea that Cloud Monitor is a dashboard into our Google Workspace,” said Krisha. “We didn’t realize the integration would be so seamless, allowing us to manage access and monitor activities directly from one place.”

This seamless integration allows her team to manage access, monitor activities, and ensure compliance in Google Workspace from a single platform. Additionally, ManagedMethods’ 30-day free audit offer and flexible buying options further demonstrated the company’s commitment to addressing her district’s unique needs.

Most importantly, Cloud Monitor’s ability to quickly identify and address security threats is a significant advantage. 

“We had an investigation come up right when we were getting the free audit going. At first, we tried to use our Google tools to figure out what was going on,” Krisha recalled. “Then we switched over to Cloud Monitor, which saved us a lot of time in finding what we needed and resolving the issue.”

Cloud Monitor also provides robust insights into the district’s data usage, helping to identify areas that need attention. “It’s giving us a lot of insights into the usage that’s happening in our district and areas we can monitor to make sure we’re securely managing all users’ information,” she explained.

ManagedMethods has exceeded Santa Rita USD’s expectations by providing an effective, user-friendly security and safety platform paired with exceptional customer support.

“ManagedMethods’ support team is incredibly responsive and helps us understand the full range of features available,” Kerr-Poole shared. The company’s proactive, hands-on support was vital in enabling the district to uncover additional functionalities within Cloud Monitor that they were previously unaware of, helping them further streamline their security processes. It also helped enhance their confidence in partnering with ManagedMethods to secure their Google Workspace environment. 

“Definitely do the free audit and really delve into it and the meetings with their support team to see all the interactivity and understand the dashboard,” Krisha advised. “Our investment in Cloud Monitor is absolutely worthwhile. It has been invaluable in terms of time savings and efficiency for our small team.”

Want to learn more about how Cloud Monitor could improve your district’s cybersecurity? Claim your free Google Workspace and/or Microsoft 365 security and safety audit today.

The post Customer Story | Protecting Students and Data in Google Workspace at Santa Rita Union School District appeared first on ManagedMethods Cybersecurity, Safety & Compliance for K-12.

*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from ManagedMethods Cybersecurity, Safety & Compliance for K-12 authored by Katie Fritchen. Read the original post at: https://managedmethods.com/blog/customer-story-k12-santa-rita-usd-ca/