Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology Enrolls IBM PureSystems to Elevate Student Experience

XI'AN, China, Nov. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that China's Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology (XAUAT) has installed a new smarter computing solution based on IBM PureSystems. Building on a strategy of "enriching people with technology" XAUAT will use IBM PureFlex to help improve the quality of education services offered to students and launch the university's Digital Campus platform and student Campus Card.

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Founded in 1895, XAUAT has established a reputation as one of the most influential Chinese universities in the fields of civil engineering and architecture. Currently, the university has about 40,000 students and is ranked as one of the 50 "Model Universities for Facilitating the Employment of Graduates." The high standards of educational and campus life attract students from across West China and around the world. Key educational and administrative functions are conducted in both Chinese and English to reinforce the university's aspiration for 'leap-forward development' and give XAUAT a position among top Chinese and international universities.

"To stay ahead of the ever changing demands of today's students, who require constant access to the university's virtual campus, we decided to launch the Digital Campus platform and provide a Campus Card especially tailored to the needs of our student communities," said Mr. Li Longji, Director of Network Center, XAUAT. "To help us achieve the scale, utilization and reliability required to establish the Digital Campus in line with current and future needs of the university, we realized we needed an integrated, cloud-ready, data-ready and secure IT infrastructure. IBM PureFlex provided that infrastructure."

The smarter computing IT infrastructure helps XAUAT to provide cloud-based applications needed to support Digital Campus services such as: authentication; wireless management; connectivity to both the Internet and to the university's campus network.  The campus network will provide students with online access to administration, learning and collaboration processes. In addition, the new system will provide the backbone for the intelligent and secure use of university's Campus Card which is used as an electronic purse by students to pay for expenses on campus, borrow books at the library, enroll for different activities, etc.

"Converged systems, such as IBM PureSystems, can cause application development and IT operations teams to change the way they evaluate and select IT infrastructure and management solutions, raising the bar in terms of how systems and systems vendors will be required to address the needs of the full IT life cycle," said Dominic Tong, VP, IBM Growth China Group. "With this project we make it easier for XAUAT to continually adapt programs and teaching methods preparing today's students for tomorrow's careers by using the most advanced IT technologies."

Working with Business Partner EC Data, IBM provided the university with a solution consisting of IBM PureFlex System, IBM Flex System x220, Flex System Manager, DS5000 Storage, Flex Chassis, IBM Power 740/720 and virtualization tools.

The IBM PureSystems family offers clients an alternative to current enterprise computing models, where multiple and disparate systems require significant resources to set up and maintain. PureFlex System enables organizations to more efficiently create and manage an infrastructure. PureApplication System helps organizations reduce the cost and complexity of rapidly deploying and managing applications. PureData System is tuned for cloud computing and can consolidate more than 100 databases on a single system. In addition to the common web application patterns supported by PureApplication System, the combination of both PureData and PureApplication Systems can be used for end to end transaction workloads.

For IBM Business Partners, PureSystems creates a new opportunity to help clients solve the complexity of enterprise IT, reduce costs and encourage innovation. From resellers to distributors and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs), more than 700 Business Partners are supporting IBM PureSystems. PureSystems currently run tens of thousands of existing ISV applications across four operating environments including Windows, Linux, AIX, and IBM i operating system. Additionally, Business Partners have created more than 200 new solutions and applications that are optimized to run on PureSystems. These patterns of expertise, which span 20 industries, can be accessed through the IBM PureSystems Centre. They include leading solutions from some of the world's largest ISVs, including ERP systems and applications for the banking, marketing, healthcare and energy industries

To help address the new opportunity that PureSystems presents, IBM is also providing training, marketing, certifications and technical validation support to business partners.  For instance, dozens of IBM Innovation Centers in cities such as Bangalore, Dublin, Johannesburg and Shanghai are helping Business Partners develop and test their applications using IBM PureSystems. Business Partners can also bring their clients to IBM Innovation Centers to see PureSystems technology at work. 

For more information on IBM PureSystems visit: www.ibm.com/press/pure

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SOURCE IBM