2 page Case Study - Posted 9/18/2007
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Fast-Growing University Improves Online Messaging, Publication, and Communication
The University of Sharjah wanted to improve online services and communications for its growing user base. Using Microsoft® technologies, it deployed a Web portal capable of supporting multiple sites, audiences, and languages. It also integrated its email and voicemail systems to offer a single point of access to messaging. Staff and students can now access up-to-date information from a personalised Web portal on and off site.
Business Needs
The University of Sharjah is one of the largest universities in the United Arab Emirates. Founded in 1997, it has grown from six colleges teaching 250 students to a 12-college campus with around 1,000 staff and 9,000 students. It is committed to using leading educational and technological means to deliver the best possible academic and IT services to its students.
The Dean of Academic Support Services, Dr. Nabil Kallas, developed an IT strategy that reflects his commitment to provide all university users with cutting-edge IT resources to support education and administration.
In a growing, competitive market for students, strategic planning is essential. Sofiane Benna, Head of Operations, Networking, and Telecommunications, University of Sharjah, says: “We needed a roadmap for the next five years that was capable of handling growing student numbers and technological developments.” The university had identified two priority IT projects—to develop an integrated Web portal and improve its messaging services for staff and students.
The portal had to support content publication in English and Arabic, be capable of integrating the university’s existing systems, and support a simplified publishing process. Previously, college staff had to rely on a central team of Web coordinators to publish and update online material. The university wanted to have a robust online content approval process and Web publication templates. It also wanted to offer people the ability to easily separate content for publication on the university intranet and Internet sites.
The university also sought to develop its messaging services by reducing spam, improving antivirus measures, and offering a single point of access to its email and voicemail systems. It had successfully upgraded its Avaya telephony system from a traditional private branch exchange (PBX) system to an IP system, but voicemail remained separate from the university’s email and directory systems.
Scalability was a key consideration for both projects. Benna says: “Our user base is currently around 10,000—and grows by 10 per cent each year. Consequently, our Internet and intranet sites are more heavily used.”
Solution
In 2006, the university began exploring possible solutions. Benna says: “We are mainly a Microsoft environment and wanted to explore the features of Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server 2007 for the portal solution. We tried another product, but it lacked multilingual support, and the interface was not very user-friendly.”
The university’s technical team attended a Microsoft Gulf technology briefing session, where they learned about two complementary solutions that could build on the university’s existing systems. They engaged Microsoft Services, which recommended two solutions that were deployed at the same time.
Microsoft Services implemented a unified messaging framework using Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Enterprise Edition and worked with Gold Certified Partner Dialogic to configure Avaya and Exchange Server 2007. It also deployed Microsoft Forefront™ Security for Exchange Server to offer a layered defence approach to protect from viruses, worms, and spam.
For the portal solution, Microsoft Services recommended ITWorx, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner with higher education experience. The university had begun work on a pilot system using Office SharePoint Server 2007. ITWorx began by addressing the technical issues identified by the university’s team in the pilot and planned the move from pilot into production.
The portal was deployed in two phases. The first phase focused on customising workflows for publishing content. ITWorx also installed Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Microsoft SQL Server™ 2005, identified Web parts for the portal to connect the existing systems, and specified a single sign-on framework to be implemented with Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2006.
The university was keen to have the new systems go live by mid-2007, in time for the new wave of student recruitment. Phase one of the portal was completed in 20 days and went live at the end of May 2007, and the unified messaging solution was completed in early June. Phase two will begin in September 2007.
Benefits
The university has successfully built on its existing infrastructure to enhance its services to staff and students. Now, people can communicate more effectively on and off campus, and access higher-quality content online. What’s more, the university can continue to build on this framework using Microsoft products and solutions under its existing licensing arrangement.
- Single inbox, improved messaging. University staff can receive their email, voicemail, and faxes through a single inbox that they can access from anywhere, meaning they can respond faster to messages and work more effectively. Also, users have access to more services from their Webmail, including the ability to send email, view calendar information, and access the university address book. This means users can work more effectively when they are not connected to the university network.
- More efficient Web publishing. University staff can now publish high-quality material online, quickly and easily. Benna says: “When we launched the new portal, the Web development team implemented university-wide templates and a content approval process. Staff have received training in content management, and each department has a Web coordinator. It is now much faster to produce and publish Web content—in multiple languages where necessary.”
- A cost-effective solution. The university has been able to obtain its additional software under the School Agreement licensing arrangement it has with Microsoft. This means that as the university expands, it can meet its growing requirements by deploying more products and services that are available under the same agreement.
- Ready for the future. In September 2007, ITWorx will begin phase two of the portal solution and integrate Blackboard, the university’s learning management system, plus its student information system. Benna says: “We have been extremely pleased with the portal solution. It offers further opportunities for us to better integrate existing applications and make the most of new technologies in the future.”
