ROUND ROCK, Texas: Dell today announced its Virtual Lab solution designed to help higher education organizations address time, space and budget challenges while providing students the freedom to access lab-based software anytime, anywhere and from any device. The solution will debut on several U.S. campuses this fall.
With budgets tighter than ever, university IT departments are under heightened pressure to find ways that technology can drive down cost and increase energy savings, while adapting IT infrastructures to accommodate major education-technology shifts like mobile student computing and distance learning.
- Transformational Virtual Lab solution enables higher education organizations to scale access to on-campus computing and engineering laboratories
- Simplified management and security creates added benefits for IT teams
- Desktop virtualization facilitates distance learning and provides student convenience
Virtual Lab addresses those challenges by enabling students to choose and use their own device, helping to relieve schools’ IT maintenance burdens and providing students with round-the-clock virtual access to lab IT resources and specialty applications. What’s more, Virtual Lab mitigates challenges related to forecasting and accommodating lab utilization rates, accessibility and security.
Higher-education organizations are able to choose from three customized Virtual Lab offerings:
- Adaptable Virtual Lab Virtualizes lab desktops for easier management
- Mobile Virtual Lab Provides students access to lab work on their personal PC’s
- Hosted Virtual Lab Combines both offerings, hosting desktops in the Dell cloud with server management services provided
Dell has improved desktop virtualization by creating a simplified way to virtualize with tested reference architectures and software applications for higher education environments. Dell can provide customers with end-to-end support for the complete solution with in-house expertise and relationships with Citrix and VMware.
By reducing IT burden, universities can focus on their core mission of driving academic excellence and students can focus their attention on learning.