Smarter IT Helps Schools Focus on Learning

Partner Success Story

Bringing technology into schools isn’t just about buying laptops and tablets. A lot needs to happen behind the scenes, including entire IT system upgrades, installation – and management. Oh and, of course, there is always a budget to contend with.

In Central New York, school districts are served by the Central New York Regional Information Center (CNYRIC) and all were running their own IT systems. And although the amount of technology that needed to be managed was growing, there was a shortage of IT specialists. Not to mention, there was also a new state law capping education spending.

It was clear something had to change.

For CNYRIC, the answer was FlexPod, an innovative converged infrastructure platform that uses the latest technology from Cisco and, Cisco Partner, NetApp. The full-service system includes software, hardware (compute, network and storage), and IT support. It’s a solution that’s simpler to manage and easier to scale. And because it’s a fixed annual fee, it’s also cutting costs.

NetApp says…

FlexPod is bringing much-needed standardization across the districts. But it also allows individual districts to customize their IT environments if they want to.

“Our long-running relationship with Cisco has combined best-in-class technology and expertise to create one of the strongest and most successful partnerships in the industry. Together, we are enabling organizations to truly access the full value of their data despite the rising complexity of applications and workloads.” Adam Fore, Director, Converged Infrastructure Solutions Marketing

It’s the best of both worlds. Districts now have autonomy over their IT, but there’s still standardization – and the stability that comes with that. Because everything is on one platform, it makes it easier to spot and prevent problems. And if problems arise, network administrators can troubleshoot remotely for a quicker fix.

So far, 11 school districts have adopted the system, with more expected to join as hardware systems age out of use.

These districts no longer have to buy and manage a mix of technologies. Or deal with the accompanying budget and resourcing headaches. Now, they can focus on what really matters: student education.

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