Customer Stories: Reinventing the Computer Lab, Part Two – Emory University

In part one of our three-part blog series, we discussed how Apporto helped Ithaca College reduce spending while delivering robust computing power by virtualizing and streaming apps and desktops to remote and on-campus users.

Part two will discuss how Emory University used Apporto’s virtual computer lab platform to  empower mobility and reduce IT support workload.

Empowering Mobility And Reducing IT Support

Students at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School (GBS) have access to a traditional computer lab. The IT department also provides students with access to necessary software, which can be downloaded onto their own laptops as part of their orientation. 

CHALLENGE  

Many of Emory’s GBS students are working professionals and did not want to spend time driving to the computer labs to use software – therefore, the computer lab was often unused. One week before finals, the lab was empty!

Emory’s IT support staff also had to help students with complicated installs. This led to slow support ticket response times. 

Another challenge was that students’ files lived on their devices, with no Cloud backup. If a student lost or broke their device, they’d lose their files and have to reinstall the program all over again. 

GOAL 

The GBS IT team wanted to free students from the hassle of being tied to a lab – or even to their own laptops. They wanted students to be able to work on multiple devices, without installing software and without being required to have a specific OS. 

Essentially, they wanted their computer lab to become a virtual-first experience.

Virtual Computer Labs: 2-year Impact Assessment Conducted by IIT

The Office of Technology Services at The Illinois Institute of Technology has completed a two-year assessment of its transformation from physical infrastructure to Apporto’s virtual computer lab.​ Read their findings here.
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Illinois Institute of Technology

RESULT  

Moving to a streaming model has allowed students to focus on learning, drastically reducing time spent on course software issues. The IT team is also reimagining the computer lab as a virtual space that supports student collaboration and growth. They are also looking at using Apporto for faculty to use when working from home. 

UC Irvine also looked to Apporto to help them take a more collaborative approach to learning. You can read their story in Part Three of our series here.  

A trusted partner for higher education institutions and enterprises since 2014, Apporto works with customers to understand their unique needs in order to reduce demands on IT departments, maximize productivity, and boost security architectures. Contact us today to learn how our turnkey DaaS solutions empower educators and inspire student learning.  

  

  

Customer Stories: Reinventing the Computer Lab, Part One – Ithaca College

Since the 1990’s, campus computer labs have been critical hubs for connecting higher ed students to new technologies. They provided free and easy access to computers, scanners, printers, and the internet, for completing homework and projects.  

With student device ownership fast approaching 100% and on-campus computer labs consuming significant budget dollars in the form of hardware, software, IT support hours, and real estate, the question facing many higher education IT leaders this Fall is how can they equip their computer labs to serve emerging use cases, stay within budget, and deliver a secure and user-friendly experience?   

In this 3-part blog series, we’ll explore how three leading schools are rethinking their approach to computer labs and what they are doing to ensure all student and faculty needs are met.  

Reducing Spend While Delivering Computing Power  

Ithaca College (IC) maintains over 60 computer labs and e-Classrooms. They use a four-year refresh cycle; each year, approximately 250 computers are replaced. Even so, IC’s computer labs were often underutilized. At times, students visited a lab to use the high-quality monitors, or, they treated it as a place to use their own devices or collaborate with their classmates.  

CHALLENGE 

Maintaining this type of lab is expensive, and the IT team needed to reduce unnecessary spend without compromising on user experience. Meanwhile, student desktops were not persistent and lab usage stats were vague. For students, using course-specific software was either inconvenient (requiring multiple visits to a physical lab) or expensive (purchasing their own software).  

GOAL 

IC wanted to re-evaluate their computer lab concept, reducing the costs associated with physical labs while still providing students with the infrastructure and services needed for their courses. The goal was to move to a solution that was Cloud-based and built on modern computing standards. This would allow students to use course software and desktops anywhere, at any time, and on any device.  

Virtual Computer Lab ROI Calculator

Apporto’s virtual computer labs maximize learning and optimize efficiencies at 50-70% less than the cost of traditional VDI solutions. See for yourself why the Navy and top universities like UCLA and Emory have already discovered by using our Virtual Computer Lab ROI Calculator.
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ROI, Return on investment, Business and financial concept.

SOLUTION – VIRTUAL COMPUTER LABS

IC worked with Apporto to virtualize and stream apps and desktops to remote and on-campus users. This has enabled IC to provide all students with course-critical software and computing power at a lower cost. It also allows the IC IT team to deliver persistent desktops and secure file storage to students. Since this Cloud-based Virtual Computer Lab service is billed based on usage, it eliminates IC’s underutilization problem, and it requires a limited financial investment.  

RESULT 

Students and faculty who have used Apporto love the platform. Rather than just seeing an instructor demonstrate techniques, students can follow along in class using their own devices in an engaging and interactive format. Built-in usage analytics allow the IT team to see how the service is being used, and support requests have primarily been limited to asking for new apps to be added to the service – which the Apporto team does within days. 

COVID-19 and the subsequent move to remote and hybrid learning accelerated the digitalization of higher education organizations. Now that students and faculty have experienced the flexibility and security afforded by remote learning technologies, it will be very difficult for colleges and universities to revert back to the traditional 100% in-person teaching model. Expectations have changed and schools have to change to meet them. Virtualizing and streaming apps and desktops to remote and on-campus users is one way in which organizations can enhance students’ learning journeys and future-proof their operations.         

To learn how Emory University empowered mobility and reduced the need for IT support, read Part Two of our series here. 

A trusted partner for higher education institutions and enterprises since 2014, Apporto works with customers to understand their unique needs in order to reduce demands on IT departments, maximize productivity, and boost security architectures. Contact us today to learn how our turnkey DaaS solutions empower educators and inspire student learning.