​

​

Scotland’s third largest city is transforming its schools with digital learning, relying on the Juniper AI-Native Networking Platform to deliver exceptional experiences for learners, faculty, and staff — all while streamlining IT operations.

Challenge

A national goal to provide every student with a mobile device and Wi-Fi connectivity set Aberdeen City Council on a path to refresh its network. Its schools had older wireless systems that lacked the capacity and coverage to support 1:1 learning for more than 26,000 learners.

“In Scotland, we have a goal to reach a one-device-per-learner ratio,” explained Iain Pilbeam-Cornfield, Infrastructure Architect at Aberdeen City Council. “The problem with that, of course, is infrastructure. We were struggling to achieve anything like that. So to get that sort of connectivity for them, we needed more density and more coverage.”

The council aimed to move to Wi-Fi 6/6E to handle higher device density and adopt a cloud-first, AIOps approach to simplify operations. Security was also key, with a focus on Zero Trust network access and integration with tools like ServiceNow.

Solution

After extensive testing, Aberdeen City Council selected the Juniper AI-Native Networking Platform for its ability to deliver AI-driven IT operations (AIOps) across 67 schools and 75 corporate sites.

The deployment includes:

• Juniper AP34 and AP45 Wireless Access Points for high-performance indoor and outdoor Wi-Fi

• Juniper EX4650, EX4400, and EX4100 Switches for core and access switching

• Juniper Mist Access Assurance for Zero Trust access controls

• Marvis Virtual Network Assistant to automate troubleshooting and speed operations

Using Juniper Mist Cloud, the IT team can onboard, configure, and migrate a school in just 30 minutes, with minimal downtime thanks to zero-touch provisioning.

Outcomes

Teachers and students immediately noticed the difference. “One teacher triumphantly came out of the classroom and raised her arms in victory for getting all her learners connected at the same time,” recalled Pilbeam-Cornfield.

With comprehensive AIOps, the council now has full visibility into network, app, and device performance. Integration with ServiceNow will soon automate firmware upgrades, cutting hours of manual work to minutes.

“What we really want to get to is minimal admin overhead,” said Pilbeam-Cornfield. “So that we can have people spending time on innovation or customer engagement and really understanding what we need.”

Key Results

• 100% reduction in network-related trouble tickets

• 2x Wi-Fi coverage and capacity with no increase in power usage

• 30-minute deployments per primary school

• 31,000 users (learners, educators, and staff) connected via Juniper network