How Cloud Monitor Saves Twin Falls School District Time and Money on Google Workspace Security
At Twin Falls School District #411 in Idaho, the IT team wears many hats. Supporting more than 9,200 students and over 1,000 staff members in a one-to-one Chromebook environment, the district uses Google Workspace for learning and operations.
“Working with the people at ManagedMethods is an undersold benefit of being a customer. When a policy wasn’t working the way we needed, we worked with their support team and got it dialed in quickly. They’re responsive, knowledgeable, and engaged in helping us solve our problems.”
— Manny C., IT Technician, Twin Falls School District
Brett Keller, IT Director, oversees a small but mighty team responsible for network infrastructure, account management, security cameras, phones, access control, and more. Manny C., the district’s IT Technician, works hands-on across school sites, helping keep devices, users, and systems running smoothly day-to-day.
For years, Twin Falls relied on Google’s paid Workspace security features to maintain visibility into email activity, file sharing, and potential risks. But when Google significantly raised its prices, the district was forced to reassess.
Moving back to Google’s free license helped control costs, but it created different challenges. Suddenly, the team was responsible for protecting thousands of users with fewer built-in controls, less visibility, and more manual work. They needed a solution that could restore oversight and automate key processes within their budget.
“When the price of Google Workspace for Education nearly doubled, we went back to the free Google license, but we lost the security tools we depended on. Cloud Monitor helped us replace that lost visibility, and further strengthen our Google security controls, without the cost of Google’s paid upgrade.”
— Brett Keller, IT Director, Twin Falls School District
Challenges
Before Cloud Monitor, much of the district’s security and student safety monitoring relied on time-consuming workarounds. Manny regularly ran keyword-based scans to detect concerning activity, while Brett built custom scripts in Google Vault to identify potential student safety risks. Those results were then shared with counselors or administrators for follow-up.
“It was very, very time-consuming,” recalls Manny. “Definitely worth doing, but it felt like there had to be a better way.”
Visibility was a persistent issue. While Google technically offered ways to search data, both Brett and Manny felt those tools lacked depth and usability. “It’s almost like a 30,000-foot view,” Manny explains. “It’s not a detailed or easy way of gathering what you actually need.”
Account security posed a major risk. Without clear login history or automated alerts, account takeovers often went undetected until a user noticed something was wrong. “We had no visibility into that until someone said, ‘I think there’s something going on with my account,’” shares Brett. “We’d find out when someone found strange emails in their sent folder—and think to report it to us.”
Results
Cloud Monitor gives Twin Falls School District something they didn’t have before: centralized, actionable visibility and control across Google Drive and Gmail that is easy to use and automate.
“At first, I thought Cloud Monitor was mainly a tool to search emails. But the real power is the policies. Once we started using automation, we realized how much more we could do.”
— Manny C., IT Technician, Twin Falls School District
One of the most immediate impacts came from policy automation. One example they shared involved students sharing HTML-based games from the district’s Google Drive. Manny found himself fighting a battle that many district tech teams are struggling with. “This is the new way they’ve found to run games that circumvent content filters,” he explains. “It’s a big challenge for K12 techs right now. Some people have become defeated by it. But, it’s wrong, and we need to fix it.”
Manny set up a policy in Cloud Monitor to try to address the issue, but noticed it didn’t seem to be working quite right. So, he reached out to ManagedMethods’ support team. “Working with the people at ManagedMethods is really an undersold benefit of being a customer,” he shares. “I was able to work with Fred to get the policy adjusted so it would work better for our needs.”
Instead of being defeated by the HTML games, they now have a policy that scans all students’ drives and automatically removes them daily. What was once a pervasive, time-consuming issue became something they could proactively manage automatically.
Account security also improved significantly. With Cloud Monitor’s login history and alerts, Brett and Manny can now quickly identify suspicious behavior, especially logins from unexpected countries or operating systems. “For example, when we see Linux logins, we have to be suspicious because we don’t use Linux,” Brett explains. Automated alerts from Cloud Monitor enable the team to respond immediately, investigate further, and automate password resets as needed. “It’s helped us button up security a lot,” says Brett.
Over time, Brett and Manny discovered that Cloud Monitor was capable of far more than they initially expected. “At first, I saw it as a tool to search emails, which it does very well,” Brett recalls. “But over time, we saw more and more value in the policies you can create to automate tasks, and the flexibility of customizing them for our specific needs.”
“We definitely recommend ManagedMethods to other districts. It saves us a considerable amount of time, and their team is great to work with. There aren’t many tools that give you this level of visibility and policy flexibility in Google Workspace.”
— Brett Keller, IT Director, Twin Falls School District
Manny agrees, noting that policy automation is one of the platform’s most powerful features. “In my opinion, the automation is an area where ManagedMethods kind of undersells themselves,” he shares. “Once you see what the policies can do, it completely changes how you approach problems and repetitive tasks. If you use Cloud Monitor, you’re going to realize more time savings than you thought you would.”
Today, Cloud Monitor plays a central role in protecting Twin Falls School District’s Google Workspace environment. With stronger visibility, powerful policy automation, and a trusted partner behind the platform, Brett and Manny feel better equipped to manage both everyday risks and emerging threats without overburdening their team or budget.
Want to learn more about improving your district’s cybersecurity, student safety, and classroom engagement?
Get started with your free Google Workspace and/or Microsoft 365 security and safety audit today.
