Penn State received $250,000 Storage System and Software Award From NetApp

The Pennsylvania State
University is known as one of the best public research
universities in the United States, with total enrollment approaching 100,000
students.

It ranks no.1 in the United States among universities with
information technology degrees. The Penn State College of Information Sciences
and Technology has created an interdisciplinary program in enterprise
architecture that integrates computer science, information technology, and
business. The Center for Enterprise Architecture (CEA) needed storage capacity
to support this technology-intensive research agenda and the degree
programs. The CEA is in the process of creating a lab environment
and was thrilled to be approached by NetApp, Inc.to participate in NetApp’s
Education Donation Program.

NetApp’s program has already awarded over 100
systems in the past 6 months to universities and K-12 institutions that
demonstrated an innovative approach to education. Penn State received a
$250,000 Storage System and Software award for the Center for Enterprise
Architecture.

As one of the  well-known learning institutions, Penn
State holds nurturing and creating progress in professional practices as a
critical element of its mission. Through its donation to Penn State’s College
of Information Sciences and Technology and its Center for Enterprise
Architecture, NetApp has enabled the university to better support this mission.
Prior to NetApp’s engagement with Penn State, the CEA had limited resources for storage, preventing the center from leveraging its full academic and
research potential. By deploying NetApp solutions with a consolidated
enterprise approach to storage, it will
have the capabilities to support the future storage needs of its students and
faculty and its new Professional Masters in Enterprise Architecture Program.

In recognition of NetApp’s donation to the Center for Enterprise
Architecture, Dean David Hall of the College of Information Sciences and
Technology met with NetApp executives earlier this summer. NetApp’s equipment
will be deployed as part of a new educational laboratory environment in which
students will be able to perform research and participate in hands-on learning
experiences. The system offers the flexibility, performance,
availability, and responsiveness to growth needed to provide ample capacity to
address both research and infrastructure demands.

"With the equipment we received through NetApp’s Education
Donation Program, we will have cutting-edge technologies available to our
researchers and advanced educational programs, including the new Professional
Masters in Enterprise Architecture Program," said Dr. Brian Cameron,
executive director, Center for Enterprise Architecture. "We are very
excited to be working with NetApp, and with their technologies we can quickly
start to engage our students in hands-on, practical research and educational
scenarios to expose them to a real-world storage and information architecture
environment."

In challenging economic and competitive environment, the
need for efficiency, effectiveness, and agility is crucial for
organizations of all types and sizes. Enterprise architecture professionals are
at the forefront of this movement, striving to leverage technology to meet the business goals of an organization. These
professionals need to integrate strategic, business, and technology planning
methods with an ability to understand, analyze, justify, and communicate the
solution of enterprise architecture problems. To meet the increased demand for
enterprise architecture professionals, Penn State has developed the Master of Professional
Studies Program in Enterprise Architecture through the College of Information
Sciences and Technology.

"Penn State’s Center for Enterprise Architecture is among the
most innovative and unique information technology degree programs being offered
by universities today. Its curriculum aligns closely with NetApp’s vision for
the future of high-performance, data-driven information technologies,"
said Regina Kunkle, VP of State and Local Government and Higher Education,
NetApp. "Creative innovation in education and technology will be vitally
important as we increasingly rely on storage technologies to provide the
backbone of critical government and business infrastructure. Penn State is
leading the charge to educate future CIOs and CTOs with this in mind. We hope
that, through NetApp’s Education Donation Program, students will have
unprecedented access to our technology to support their education goals and
facilitate continued advancement in storage and IT performance."