BrainStorm is an Education Technology Conference held annually in several locations, with the express purpose to gather education technologists from around the Midwest to get connected, get informed, and get inspired.
The heart of BrainStorm is the exchange of ideas among fellow education IT technologists and Ed Tech vendors. The conference features multiple sessions, presentations, and a very dynamic vendor exhibit.
At this year's event, held at the Kalahari Resort in Baraboo, WI, we co-sponsored an exhibit space with our partner Tusker/CCCP to share our new AI developments and engage with Tech Directors, Network Administrators, Security Specialists, and other leaders from school districts all over the Midwest.
School districts operate some of the most complex and open network environments of any organization their size. Students, faculty, and staff connect from anywhere on a growing number of devices. Cloud applications, learning platforms, and administrative systems continue to expand the attack surface. And most districts are managing all of this with limited IT staff and constrained budgets.
At the same time, threats are escalating. Ransomware targeting school districts has increased significantly in recent years, and bad actors are leveraging AI to find vulnerabilities faster than many districts can patch them. Traditional security tools, often tied to a single vendor or limited to endpoint protection, leave gaps that are difficult to see and even harder to manage.
That reality was front and center at BrainStorm. The education IT leaders we spoke with are not just aware of the problem. They are actively looking for a better approach.
We have great customers, and BrainStorm gave us the opportunity to meet with many of them in person. Leaders from Dodgeland, Whitewater, and Oconto Falls School Districts were universally complimentary of our work with them, noting how our platform and SOC team provide a comprehensive and cost-effective solution for their districts.
What stood out in those conversations was not just satisfaction with the technology. It was the value they placed on partnership. These are districts with small IT teams that need a security partner they can rely on around the clock. They highlighted how our platform gives them complete visibility across their environments while our 24/7 SOC handles the detection and response that their teams simply do not have the bandwidth to manage on their own. For districts operating under tight budgets, the ability to see everything, secure it, and reduce costs is not aspirational. It is essential.
We have great partners. Our sponsorship with the CCCP team, part of Tusker, demonstrates our go-to-market strategy of working with regional partners to serve key markets such as education. This team was a top performer with us in 2025, and our collaboration with them has added tremendous value to customers in the EDU space, as well as manufacturing, government, financial services, and healthcare.
Regional partners like Tusker matter for the education market because they understand the local landscape. They know the districts, they know the funding cycles, and they know the operational realities that shape purchasing decisions. When you pair that local expertise with our Exposure Management platform and 24/7 SOC, the result is a solution that fits the way school districts actually operate.
One of the highlights of the event was a session led by Rod Kahl, the head of the Cybersecurity Practice at Tusker. His presentation focused on the need for complete visibility and 24/7 Security Operations to fully protect education environments from the increasing threats of bad actors and AI-driven attacks. It was a message that resonated strongly with the audience and reinforced the value of the partnership between our organizations.
At UncommonX, our core capabilities deliver on the promise of complete visibility. We offer integrations for over 300 products and applications and provide the single pane of glass necessary to manage a networked environment on today's risk landscape.
At this year's event, we had many new school districts seek us out, understand our value proposition, and express interest in adopting our solution. The conversations were not theoretical. These were leaders with real problems looking for a practical path forward. We will be very busy with follow-up and meeting the needs of an ever-increasing audience.
What is driving this shift is a combination of factors that have been building for years. Funding programs like the FCC's cybersecurity pilot have made it easier for districts to invest in security. High-profile ransomware attacks on schools have made the risk impossible to ignore. And the expansion of cloud-based learning tools, student devices, and remote access has created environments that are far more complex than what most districts were built to secure. The result is a market that is no longer asking whether they need better cybersecurity. They are asking how to get there.
The market is telling us that this works. And we are proud to be there for this important community of education technology leaders.
Contact us today to learn how UncommonX helps school districts achieve complete visibility, strengthen cybersecurity, and make the most of every dollar in their IT budget.