News / Events

 Last week brought sunshine and beautiful weather to Denver… Along with more than 3700 Higher Education IT professionals, in Denver to attend the EDUCAUSE Annual Conference. 

The conference buzzed with people talking about a few key topics:

- Cloud Computing: How will Higher Education leverage the trend towards Cloud Computing?  Can Cloud Computing change the cost structure and mitigate complexity for Hi Ed IT?  How do institutions manage thorny issues related to Cloud Computing- such as security, access, privacy, data ownership, and others?  With Dell’s recent acquisition of Perot Systems, we’ll be looking for a compelling solution to meet Hi Ed customer needs for Cloud Computing and help answer some of these questions. Read the article in the November/December, 2009, edition of EDUCAUSE Review by Brad Wheeler, Vice President for Information Technology, Chief Information Officer for Indiana University, and professor of information systems in IU’s Kelly School of Business; and Shelton Waggener, Associate Vice Chancellor for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer at the University of California, Berkley: Above-Campus Services: Shaping the Promise of Cloud Computing for Higher Education.     

- The extension of the Dell and SunGard Higher Education partnership: We announced that we’ll be extending our partnership with SunGard, and even setting up a remote test center on-site at Dell headquarters in Round Rock, Texas.  This test center will allow the two companies to expand upon the great work already underway at SunGard’s Open Digital Campus Test center, and accelerate the testing of Dell products, including EqualLogic storage, with SunGard’s Banner and PowerCampus software suites.  

- The emergence of the Learning Management System as a mission critical application on campuses: How can colleges and universities make the best choice between the commercial and open source options for LMS?  Dell partners extensively with Blackboard, and our partnership continues to grow, offering customers a scalable, reliable platform to run their LMS.  In fact, Dell PowerEdge™ blade servers allowed Blackboard’s Managed Hosting™ service to provide 99.7% availability to more than 630 campuses worldwide.   We’re also working with MoodleRooms to offer choices to our customers who are interested in deploying Moodle’s open source offering. 

- Virtualizing the Desktop: The next big wave of virtualization in Hi Ed will take place in the desktop environment, as colleges and universities wrangle with the right way to share information and resources and information with their student population.  Dell’s Flexible Computing solutions continue to emerge to help customers to help tackle this problem.  It’s another great example of how we’ll be able to use our expertise to help solve the challenges facing our Hi Ed customers.

It was a productive week in Denver.  I personally enjoyed the opportunity to meet with so many customers in such a short period of time.  The EDUCAUSE conference never fails to deliver on its promise of insight, thought leadership and interaction with the Hi Ed IT community. 

Yesterday, Dell's Director of Technology Policy, Neeraj Srivastava, blogged about the U.S. F.C.C.'s White Spaces decision over on Direct2Dell.

Read more about the potential of this decision and what it means for Claudville, Virginia today.

John E. Mullen, Jr. serves as Vice President/General Manager of Dell’s Education, State and Local Government businesses. He is also responsible for Dell’s global Higher Education strategy and solutions.

During Dell’s Primary/Secondary Customer Advisory Council, I had the pleasure of meeting with several education customers from around the world. The challenges they face are similar and connectivity continues to be a primary focus—from the aspect of integrating curriculum and technology in the classroom to connecting parents and the community beyond the walls of the classroom. In an era of connectivity, the digital divide is an issue that prevents some parents from being able to participate actively in their child’s education. I had the opportunity to sit down with Chief Information Officer, Marcos Zorola, and Patricia Holub, Executive Director of Technology & Integration, from San Antonio Independent School District, and learn their unique way of bridging the gap, building equity among campuses, and providing the opportunity for parents to be an integral part of their children’s education. I encourage you to listen to the interview to learn more.

Kriti Kapoor, Director of Vertical Solutions Marketing
Dell Asia Pacific & Japan (APJ) - Public Sector

If every child in the world had access to a computer, what potential could be unlocked?

There are nearly two billion children of the developing world with little or no access to education. While children are by nature eager for knowledge, many countries have insufficient resources to devote to education—sometimes less than $20 per year per child (compared to an average of $7,500 in the United States).

Professor Nicolas Negroponte established the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) not-for-profit organization in 2002, to create educational opportunities for the world's poorest children by providing each child with a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop with content and software designed for collaborative, fun and self-empowered learning.

Professor Nicholas Negroponte, Founder & Chairman of One Laptop per Child

I had the opportunity to hear Professor Negroponte speak at the Singapore Management University last week, and I am inspired and encouraged. I am inspired by the OLPC mission to make education for the world’s children a priority, not a privilege; and encouraged by Dell’s commitment to design technology solutions that help make the learning ecosystem a reality. The Latitude 2100, the Dell Mobile Computing Cart continues to excite our customers, and the soon to launch Connected Classroom will transform the learning environment, and improve student outcomes.

When children have access to technology and the right tools in their learning environment, they get engaged in their own education. They learn, share, create, and collaborate. They become connected to each other, to the world and to a brighter future. Nations will develop an essential resource—educated, empowered children in the digital age.

Last week we held our first “International K12 Education Advisory Council” since the inception of our Global business. Twenty-five customers from 9 countries and 14 school districts from around the United States participated in the two and half day event. It was very interesting to hear about many of the similar challenges faced by educators internationally. Students from around the world are truly digital natives and all schools are faced with engaging them using the technology amidst budget issues and proper training for teachers to use that technology in their curriculums. It was great to get the feedback from these customers to make sure we are bringing technology to the classroom that helps them prepare students for future success! One overriding theme we heard throughout the event was the need for “access” for students, teachers, faculty and families to be competitive in today’s environment.

I also had the chance to sit down and discuss technology’s role in education with Dr. Sheryl Abshire of Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana.