REDMOND, Wash., Feb. 10, 1997 — Ease-of-use, scalability and affordability of the Microsoft® Windows NT®
Server are prompting colleges and universities across the country to choose the Microsoft operating system to meet expanding campus computing demands. With market research supporting a growing migration to Windows NT in the higher education community, leading solution developers are responding to the demand by creating software that runs on the operating system and meets student and administrative needs.
“Microsoft is committed to providing rich tools and solutions to help college and university educators, administrators and technology professionals maximize the use of technology in administration and in the classroom,”
said Marilyn Slavin, Microsoft higher education business development manager.
“Schools face many of the same challenges as businesses, and by migrating to Windows NT Server the higher education community is able to take advantage of the same software solutions businesses have found invaluable.”
Recently published reports show colleges and universities are supporting and recommending a shift to the Windows®
platform. CCA Consulting Inc., Wellesley, Mass., documents the growing support for Windows NT. The study found the number of colleges and universities mentioning Windows NT as important to strategic plans nearly doubled between 1995 and 1996. In addition when asked about the importance of Windows NT in their technology plans for the next two to three years, The 1996 Campus Computing Project, Encino, Calif., found campus respondents rate Windows NT at 5.1 on a 7 point scale, with 7 being
“very important.”
According to Kenneth C. Green of The Campus Computing Project,
“The annual Campus Computing Report also reveals that the number of colleges and universities supporting Window NT nearly doubled between 1995 and 1996, rising to 40 percent.”
With an eye toward the year 2000, Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., decided that to stay competitive students and faculty needed access to the latest technology, said Jay Dominick, assistant vice president for Information Systems at Wake Forest. As a result, the university has adopted a plan requiring everyone on campus – more than 1,900 users – to work on Windows-based laptop computers which will all operate on a Windows NT Server network operating system.
“Reliability and security really influenced our decision to chose the Windows NT Server. The IS staff saw Windows NT as manageable and scaleable as well, all crucial to the expansion of our network,”
Dominick said.
“We really liked the tight integration with the Windows 95 operating system – with Windows 95 on the desktop, why make any other choice?”
Solution Developers Choose Windows NT
As support for Windows NT grows in the higher education community, three leading solution developers serving colleges and universities are ensuring that schools have the software they need to make the most of the robust Windows NT platform. Using current technology available solution developers create turn-key administrative solutions for education, such as student admission systems, fundraising systems and database management systems.
With nearly half of the colleges and universities with enrollments more than 2,000 as customers, Systems & Computer Technology (SCT) Corp.’s Banner2000 & TM; product line of administrative client/server solutions has supported Windows NT as a client platform, as an application server and as a web server. Banner2000 also will support Windows NT as a database server in the near future. Student information, financial aid, administrative accounting, class scheduling and more can be managed with the SCT’s Internet-based administrative systems.
“Windows NT is an appropriate environment for high-end as well as low-end users,”
said Frank Tait, vice president of marketing for SCT Education Systems, Malvern, Penn.
“Our customers ask for software that supports Windows NT because of its lower cost – and it has the scalability they are looking for.”
The increased scope and processing power of Windows NT Server 4.0 have resulted in enthusiastic acceptance by Datatel customers for their client computer, network server, department server, and applications/database server solutions, said Dr. Laird Sloan, director of tools and technology for Datatel, Fairfax, Va. As a result, Datatel, an industry leader in providing respected business solutions to higher education, is moving its software systems to the Windows NT environment. Sloan said Datatel is a long-time user of Microsoft products for client and network servers, and now the conversion of its database processing and Web infrastructure to the Windows NT and ActiveX environment will complete the availability of a full Microsoft solution from Datatel.
“The scalability, simplicity of operations, and end-to-end compatibility of a Windows NT-based solution makes it ideal for the educational market,”
said Sloan.
“With the NT solution, we can provide our Colleague software as a fully integrated product, or install its component sub-systems – student, financial, human resource and alumni/development – as stand-alone products.”
KPMG Peat Marwick, Chicago, which serves more than 300 colleges and universities nationwide, has chosen to develop its new Performance Series software first on the Windows NT platform, said Pat Casey, a principal at Peat Marwick. The decision was based on the Windows NT open system standards and robust, 32-bit operating system, he said. The Performance Series for higher education includes five applications – accounting, purchasing, student, budgeting and asset management – that are fully integrated and share common workflow management, user interfaces and table-driven, rule-base features.
“We’ve chosen Windows NT because it’s a flexible, multiplatform server and easy to set up,”
Casey said.
“There’s not a lot of human intervention required, so the customer will benefit.”
For more information about Windows NT and other Microsoft products check out the guide to education pricing and licensing information and online guide to education resellers at Microsoft’s award-winning education Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/education/product/default.asp .
Microsoft is committed to providing practical solutions to the complex challenges colleges and universities face in implementing and integrating technology – in the classroom, in administration, and even beyond the campus – and to preparing IT professionals and students for success in the workplace and for lifelong learning.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.
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