Amplify secures thousands of tutors in minutes with Prisma Access Browser

SUMMARY

In the aftermath of school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic, Amplify Education, an educational software and services provider that serves 15 million students in all 50 U.S. states, recognized a need to deliver high-quality tutoring to students. That would require a workforce of thousands of tutors working on their own devices. An organization whose C-suite is actively involved in security decisions, Amplify knew it couldn’t launch the program unless it could keep students, teachers and the company secure.

RESULTS

~85%

cost savings

6 Weeks to Minutes

Reduction in offboarding time

1K Hours

Reduction in offboarding ticket time

CHALLENGES

Scaling a remote workforce at pace.

Quickly onboard over 2,000 tutors with limited technical skills on their personal devices.
Keep students’ personally identifiable information (PII) secure.
Existing solutions weren’t cost effective, manageable or scaleable.

“One of the great things about Prisma Access Browser is that it’s so easy to deploy. Distribution of the secure browser was automatic as each tutor was onboarded.”

Brian Kramps,

Director IT Operations

SOLUTION

Amplify considered options including other browsers, complex security arrangements and providing tutors company-owned devices. It determined that Prisma Access Browser was the only solution that could meet all its needs. As Vice President Security Operations Bill Donnely puts it: “The browser is the easiest door to blow open, so securing productivity all the way to that door was essential.”

Upon deploying Prisma Access Browser, Amplify was especially pleased with how easy it was to set consistent policies, block downloads and onboard and offboard tutors. New hires simply downloaded the secure browser and could begin working immediately, from anywhere, with an intuitive user interface. They could be offboarded in minutes rather than the six weeks it had previously taken. This saved over 1,000 hours in offboarding ticket time, driving cost savings of ~85%.

The secure environment protected Amplify and the students, even if a tutor’s device was compromised from other activity. With this protection in place, the company could rapidly scale its tutoring workforce from initial programs in Los Angeles and New York to a nationwide program, employing over 2,000 tutors to deliver the educational enrichment students need for academic success.

Building on the ease of securing its tutoring workforce, Amplify is now looking to expand its use of Prisma Access Browser to contractors and others in the organization.