Technology Industry Highlights SU's Innovative IT Practices

SALISBURY, MD---Salisbury University’s Information Technology Department was recently recognized by the Storage Networking Industry Association (SINA) and InfoWorld Magazine, for implementing an innovative storage area network system.

The association recognized SU as a Best Practices in Storage Awards finalist at the Storage Network World Conference for planning, designing and building the strategic storage infrastructure. SU’s accomplishment was highlighted among nationwide companies such as AOL, Pixar Animation Studios and Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc.

SU was also named to this year’s InfoWorld Top 100, an annual award that honors innovative projects in government, health care and other sectors for using cutting-edge technologies to enhance business goals.

Su’s IT Department implemented the storage system, described as a “data refrigerator” by Chief Information Officer Jerome Waldron, in response to challenges such as implementing new enterprise software applications, managing exploding volumes of email and meeting the digital demands of tech-savvy students. The campus now relies on the system to provide safe data storage for all computing systems.

“Salisbury University is pleased to be recognized by information technology professionals from the technology industry,” said Waldron. “This project has saved time and money. As a diverse and growing campus we need to be as efficient as possible. Managing academic and administrative systems on a campus presents unique technology challenges.”

Before the EMC CLARiiON system, data was dispersed across old, incompatible storage devices that required labor-intensive, manual backups, he said. Now large amounts of data are consolidated into a safe, well-managed storage system with daily, automated data backups. This minimizes security vulnerability and reduces servers by 25 percent, saving equipment purchase and maintenance expenses.

In addition, students, faculty and staff have an unprecedented amount of email and personal storage space. About 1.8 million applications, transcripts and other documents are also archived utilizing digital imaging. By designing the platform which accepts all types of data, Waldron said the IT Department’s four person networking staff can meet the campus’s sophisticated technology needs.

For more information call 410-543-6030 or visit the SU Web site at www.salisbury.edu.