Business Headlines
Lightspeed Systems Achieves Fourth Consecutive Inc. 5,000 Ranking
Lightspeed Systems Inc. — Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Leading Provider of School Network Solutions Named One of the Fastest-Growing Private Companies in America with Three-Year Sales Growth of 137 Percent
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - Aug. 24, 2010 - Inc. magazine today recognized Lightspeed Systems Inc., a leader in school network security and management, on its fourth annual Inc. 5000 list, an exclusive ranking of the nation's fastest-growing private companies. This is the fourth consecutive year the company has earned a spot on the list, moving up in the ranking from 2,071 in 2009, to 1,957 in 2010.
According to the magazine, the Inc. 5,000 list represents the most comprehensive look at a critical segment of the economy-America's independent-minded entrepreneurs. "The leaders of the companies on this year's Inc. 5000 have figured out how to grow their businesses during the longest recession since the Great Depression," said Inc. president Bob LaPointe. "The 2010 Inc. 5000 showcases a particularly hardy group of entrepreneurs."
Lightspeed Systems' latest achievement and rapid growth is the result of its strong commitment to the education community, comprehensive training and support, and award-winning products. "We understand the unique needs of school district technology leaders," said company President Scott Garrison. "Our innovative products help administrators balance instructional technology needs in the classroom with IT management requirements to ensure safe and engaging online learning opportunities for students."
Network security and management have become an increasingly complex challenge for education leaders. While facing tight budgets and limited staffing, district technology departments must serve thousands of students and faculty members in a growing digital learning environment. The IT network is a critical foundation for teaching and learning as educators integrate more technology into instruction to meet the educational needs of students that have grown up in the digital age. Administrators also rely heavily on the data network for school business functions that have moved to the Web, including school-to-home communications.
Lightspeed Systems develops comprehensive network security and management solutions for the education market that help schools filter, monitor, secure, manage, and optimize their networks. The company provides integrated hardware and software products that enable administrators to easily and efficiently manage their networks to protect technology investments, safeguard students, improve network performance, and maintain regulatory compliance. Lightspeed Systems offers a consolidated solution that saves customers time and money while reducing IT management headaches, or as stand-alone products to meet individual school and district needs. The products provide content filtering, mobile filtering, spam management, bandwidth management, antivirus protection, email archiving, desktop and gateway security, educational networking and extensive reporting capabilities.
During the past year, Lightspeed Systems has released several new products and features based on customer feedback. The company added My Big Campus to its smart Internet filtering software, Web Access Manager. My Big Campus offers teachers and students safe access to a searchable collection of user-submitted online resources, and a suite of collaboration tools that are integrated into the Web filter to help schools streamline IT administration, protect students and the network, enforce acceptable use policies, and comply with state and federal regulations. The Software & Information Industry Association honored Lightspeed Systems as a 2010 Innovation Incubator finalist for My Big Campus.
Additionally, the company released a new product line that integrates its award-winning software with premium hardware to help districts effectively manage their high-capacity networks. The Lightspeed High-Capacity Network Solutions enhance user safety and productivity, strengthen network security, and ensure compliance with federal regulations, all without hindering speed or performance.
The complete Inc. 5,000 list is available at Inc.com/5000. For more information, contact Lightspeed Systems at 661-716-7600, or visit www.lightspeedsystems.com.
About the Inc. 5,000
In 1982, Inc. introduced the Inc. 500 list of the fastest-growing privately held companies in the United States. Since then, this prestigious list of the nation's most successful private companies has become the hallmark of entrepreneurial success and the place where future household names first make their mark. In 2007, the Inc. 500 list expanded to the Inc. 500|5000, giving readers a deeper, richer understanding of the entrepreneurial landscape and capturing a broader spectrum of success. The Inc. 5,000 profiles are available on www.Inc.com.
About Lightspeed Systems
Lightspeed Systems Inc., founded in 1999, develops comprehensive network security and management solutions for the K-12 education market. Lightspeed is committed to helping schools operate their networks effectively and efficiently, so educators can provide a safe online teaching and learning environment. The company's flagship product integrates content filtering, spam management, bandwidth management, antivirus protection, extensive reporting capabilities, email archiving, and mobile filtering into a single application. Lightspeed Systems software is used in more than 2,000 school districts in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia to protect more than 6 million students. For the past four years, Lightspeed Systems has been recognized on the Inc. 5,000 list as one of fastest-growing private companies. For more information, call 661-716-7600, or visit www.lightspeedsystems.com.
CONTACT: Crystal Cochran, Lightspeed Systems, 661-431-1649, crystal@lightspeedsystems.com
