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Colleges and Universities Choose Dell to Solve Complex Technology Learning, Administration and Research Innovation Challenges
[September 29, 2014]

Colleges and Universities Choose Dell to Solve Complex Technology Learning, Administration and Research Innovation Challenges


ORLANDO, Fla. --(Business Wire)--

At Educause 2014, Dell (News - Alert) highlighted several colleges and universities around the country that have selected the company to help solve their toughest technology, learning and research innovation challenges. As a leading provider of technology and services to higher education institutions, Dell partners with colleges and universities to develop an end-to-end strategy tailored to their unique needs. Dell's expertise and guidance helps schools resolve IT challenges and innovate the classroom experience, helping educators and students develop the knowledge they need for future success.

By integrating technology throughout the learning environment, Dell believes students are empowered to take charge of their own education and build critical-thinking skills. Dell is committed to putting the student voice first in learning and has pioneered programs like the Youth Innovation Advisors and Centers of Excellence for Teaching and Learning. These initiatives ultimately empower a next generation of makers, leaders and entrepreneurs to drive a globally-competitive workforce.

At Educause this year, Dell will host a series of conversations as part of its Innovation in Teaching and Learning Think Tank series, which regularly convenes dialogues to share best practices among education innovators. The Dell Think Tank Program at Educause will include sessions such as BYOD, Data Analytics, Data Privacy and Student Voice and Dell executives and customers will participate in a series of Advanced Thought Leadership panels. The company will also showcase its comprehensive set of higher-education solutions in booth #401. For the full list of Dell activities at Educause, visit the Educause 2014 page on Dell.com.

"We're incredibly proud of the work we do with higher education institutions around the world," said Jon Phillips, managing director of worldwide education at Dell. "Whether we're empowering campus IT to securely manage a growing diversity of devices, working with world-leading researchers to build High-Powered Computing systems, or helping administrators ensure the success of their students through data analytics, Dell is committed to meeting the diverse needs of our higher education customers and delivering solutions and partnerships that help these institutions drive innovation in teaching, learning and research."

Dell is excited to share the stories of these education institutions that have deployed new technology solutions to balance the needs of students, faculty, administrators and IT.

University of Kentucky

The University of Kentucky (UK) is in the midst of transforming their entire IT portfolio to take maximum advantage of cloud and virtualization technologies. Dell and UK have partnered closely over several years testing workloads in the cloud and defining a strategy to exit their data center in 36 months. Today, Dell and UK continue to collaborate and drive innovation in these areas. UK utilizes the Dell Managed Private Cloud and a Dell OpenStack Research Cluster.

University of Alabama at Birmingham

The University of Alabama at Birmingham needed affordable, scalableand easy-to-use storage to support the dynamic needs of researchers trying to uncover new scientific insights. IT staff deployed a private storage cloud using the Dell™ OpenStack-Powered Cloud Solution, based on Dell servers, storage, networking and services - as well as OpenStack™, Ceph® and Dell Crowbar software.



Hawaii Pacific University

Founded in 1965, Hawaii Pacific University (HPU) has grown to become the state's leading private, non-profit university with a student population of nearly 7,000 undergraduate and graduate students spread across three major campuses. HPU looked to reduce its IT costs as well as improve services for students and staff through a virtualized desktop infrastructure (VDI) as well as support for Voice-over-IP (VOIP) communications and video conferencing. The university chose solutions from Dell, featuring Dell PowerEdge servers, Dell EqualLogic storage with a hybrid array of SSD and SAS (News - Alert) drives, and Dell Networking switches. Through the robust infrastructure built in partnership with Dell, faculty members and students can now access university resources from any device, anywhere in the world where they have Internet access. Students and staff benefit from increased efficiency through secure, remote access to data in addition to gaining better communication services with convergence. Dell PowerConnect switches support Microsoft Lync and PC-based telephony and video conferencing, ensuring great quality of service across its disparate campuses.


At Educause 2014, Hawaii Pacific University Chief Information Officer Sharon Blanton will participate in a session titled Leveraging Data for Strategic Advantage, taking place on Tuesday, Sept. 30th, 2014 from 10:30 - 11:20 a.m. EST.

Harper College

As part of an overall plan to improve student graduation rates, Harper College and Dell developed a student retention model that leverages data analytics to quickly identify at-risk students and deliver the information to key stakeholders, allowing early intervention to increase student success. Harper worked with Dell to build a student retention model that pulled disparate data sources together to provide a reporting framework. This proof of concept provides counselors with all of the student information necessary to provide students with the information, guidance and resources they need to complete their program.

Harper College and Dell have published a white paper on the student retention model and Harper College Chief Information Officer Patrick Bauer will discuss the project and methodology at Educause 2014, in a session titled Improving Student Graduation Rates Using Data Insights and Predictive Modeling taking place on Tuesday, Sept. 30th, 2014 from 3:40 - 4:30 p.m. EDT.

Concordia University

Concordia University's business intelligence department required a fast, accurate way to run reports and extract meaningful information from its diverse data sources to ensure compliance, improve decision making, and focus on other BI initiatives. With the Dell Software's Toad Data Point and Toad Intelligence Central solutions, Concordia University automated reporting, providing users with a secure self-service mechanism for pulling data that saves countless hours. Automated reporting, saving hundreds of hours for the creation of a single report and more than 10 hours each time it is rerun.

University of Alaska

The University of Alaska needed a querying and reporting tool that would enable all users to easily run ad hoc queries and produce reports against multiple data sources to improve decision making. Standardizing on Toad Data Point provided a solution robust enough to support a database expert's highly complex queries, yet easy enough for less technical staff to use, enabling both user types to create queries and reports with ease, thus saving time and increasing productivity in the process.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (FPG) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill represents one of the nation's oldest and largest multidisciplinary centers devoted to the study of young children and their families. As a pan-Dell customer, UNC has taken advantage of Dell KACE Systems Management solutions to simplify device discovery and inventory of all hardware and software assets, including Dell servers, desktops tablets, along with Android (News - Alert) and iOS tablets. FPG also leverages Dell EqualLogic storage and Dell Software's NetVault data protection to ensure reliable access and retention of mission-critical information. Additionally, FPG is working with Dell to support an ever-increasing mobility strategy encompassing tablet-based data collection and collaboration.

At Educause 2014, join University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Director of Information Technology John Garcia (News - Alert) in a session titled Mobility without Security Gets You a Failing Grade, on Tuesday, Sep 30th, 2014 from 10:30 - 11:20 a.m. EDT.

Emory University

The executive MBA program at Emory University's top-ranked Goizueta Business School chose Dell Latitude 10 tablets to distribute course and program-related content and give students access to applications and data in the classroom, at home and on-the-go. Program administrators chose Dell Latitude 10 tablets over the iPad because of its ability to better run applications, deliver course-related information from the school's learning management system and link to other systems and websites, including the university's library. The MBA program found that outfitting their busy students with a Dell tablet running Windows 8 and preloaded with course content, productivity and specialized applications, the university has reduced student orientation time from seven hours to one and streamlined student access to information and course content.

About Dell

Dell Inc. is committed to helping students develop the knowledge and skills they need to learn and succeed in an increasingly digital world and a globally competitive workforce. As a top provider of technology and services to schools, Dell listens to and works with students, educators, administrators, parents and community members around the world to deliver innovative technology and services that give them the power to do more in and out of the classroom. Learn more about Dell in Education at www.dell.com. Follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) @DellEDU.

Dell World

Join us November 4-6 at Dell World 2014, Dell's premier customer event exploring how technology solutions and services provide organizations a better way to accelerate businesses' ability to innovate. Learn more at www.dellworld.com and follow #DellWorld on Twitter.

Dell, Wyse, EqualLogic, PowerEdge, PowerConnect and ProSupport, are trademarks of Dell Inc. Dell disclaims any proprietary interest in the marks and names of others.


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