Ulster University turns to Dell Technologies to overcome challenges

Dell Technologies has announced that it is supporting Ulster University on its digital transformation journey by enabling them to develop a consistent digital experience for its 34,000 students, research, teaching and professional services staff.

The collaboration has supported the modernisation of Ulster University’s compute and storage infrastructure helping to remove data silos in its Northern Ireland campuses.

As a university stretching across four campuses in Belfast, Coleraine, Jordanstown and Magee, Ulster University needed to provide students with the digital infrastructure required by a modern learning environment while also continuing to deliver world-recognised research irrespective of location.

However, with legacy data silos across campuses adding to the complexity and cost of its IT systems, the University faced many obstacles in providing one consistent experience for students and teaching staff across its sites.

Ulster University turned to Dell Technologies to overcome these challenges.

Dell’s Hyper-Converged VxRail infrastructure, powered by Intel, enabled the university to consolidate its IT needs under one platform. This seamless, integrated and automated IT solution helped to break down data silos and provide a consistent experience for staff and students at the university.

Additional benefits include zero downtime, reduced complexity, expanded scalability, and enhanced resilience within Ulster University’s IT systems.

With the shift to hybrid learning and the rise in cyber threats, Ulster University also tapped into Dell’s expert team of experts to enhance its cyber resilience strategy. Through the guidance of Dell Technologies, Ulster University’s IT team can address any potential cyber threats and ensure robust recovery capability to restore operations in the case of an attack.

George Maybury, public sector director, Dell Technologies Ireland and Northern Ireland, said: “As a trusted partner of Ulster University for over 20 years, we have developed a strong relationship with this historic institution in Northern Ireland. From supporting the IT team as they modernise the University’s infrastructure to empowering researchers to use AI and Edge Computing as part of the Belfast Region City Deal, we’re making transformation real. Through our collaboration, Ulster University has also started its Cloud journey. Cloud is about transforming operations, and we are excited to have worked with the University to fuel that transformation well into the future.”

Terence Nicholl, head of infrastructure and operations, Ulster University, added: “As a single university with four unique sites, at Ulster University, we faced the challenge of ensuring a consistent teaching and learning experience for all of our staff and students. With the help of Dell Technologies, we were able to build a roadmap to rationalise and transform our existing infrastructure so that we could provide a seamless, single and consistent service provision while enhancing our cyber resilience.

"Thanks to strategic relationship we have with Dell, we are now confident that we can build on the achievements to date and strengthen the experience of Ulster University’s staff, students and visitors for many years to come.”