SAN JOSE, Calif. – April. 6, 2010 - Cisco today announced that the Seattle University, Tele Sistemi Ferroviari,  Moses Cone Health System, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and RackForce have selected the Cisco Unified Computing System^TM  to increase business agility and productivity,  and scale their virtualized environments while reducing data center costs.   These organizations join more than 400 enterprise and service provider customers around the world who have adopted the Cisco Unified Computing System since it began shipping just eight months ago in July 2009.    Global customers include Curtin University in Australia, Winterflood Securities  in the UK,   Klinikum Wels-Grieskirchen in Austria, Incheon Metropolitan City in Korea, and Taser, Tutor Perini, Molina Healthcare, and Purdue University in the U.S.

Facts

• The Cisco Unified Computing System unites computational, storage and network resources to create a virtualized data center computing platform that is optimized for high-performance application deployment, and is being adopted by organizations worldwide.    Cisco® Data Center 3.0 solutions help data centers to transition to 10 Gigabit architectures, virtualization, unified fabric solutions, cloud computing and green operations.
• Cisco offers the broadest range of networked data center solutions in the industry, including the Cisco Unified Computing System^TM, Cisco Nexus® family of data center switches, Cisco MDS multiprotocol storage area network switches, Cisco application delivery products, and Cisco Catalyst switches ®.
• Cisco Services helps customers realize the full value of their Cisco Unified Computing System investment. Cisco Services provides planning, design, implementation, operation and optimization services, and has helped customers deploy Unified Computing System worldwide.
• The Cisco Data Center 3.0 portfolio now supports more than 15,000 applications through certifications and integration with key industry partners. Cisco Validated Designs and related professional services from Cisco and partners allow easy, dependable migration of critical IT systems to Data Center 3.0 infrastructure.

Seattle University: Unified Computing System Eases Management of Campus IT Services

Seattle University (SU) is the largest independent, multidisciplinary university in the Northwest, with 7,751 students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs.  Seattle University deployed the Cisco Unified Computing System and other related Cisco® technologies for networking and data center management.  In addition, Seattle University worked closely with Cisco Services, along with a Cisco Gold Certified partner INX, to install and integrate the new technologies into its existing infrastructure.

Seattle University deployed the Cisco Unified Computing System to improve the 20 campus computer labs and over 1,500 desktop computers by synchronizing them on a uniform software program. The equipment, software, and network were difficult to upgrade because the original software package was manually installed and updated for specific academic courses through a time-intensive process.  In many cases, each application required a dedicated server, even if the application used a small portion of the server's available central processing unit (CPU), wasting resources.

With the Cisco Unified Computing System, Seattle University IT staff can easily upgrade software and manage data center services centrally.   "We are now managing open computers in 17 of the educational and administrative buildings, residence halls, and student areas on campus," says Daniel Duffy, chief technology officer for Seattle University.  "We cut the number of people deploying software in multiple areas for specific classroom needs and requests. The Cisco Unified Computing System provides centralized management across campus to modernize our learning environment."

Moses Cone Health System:  Unified Computing System Aids Transition to Electronic Medical Records

Based in North Carolina, Moses Cone Health System is a multihospital system that delivers extensive outpatient services.

In response to the U.S. economic stimulus program, Moses Cone Health System is accelerating its transition to electronic medical records (EMR) and Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE). To support EMR, the IT team is deploying Microsoft Amalga, a real-time data warehousing application designed for clinical data. To host Microsoft Amalga and to enable the clinical staff to use the application to view and update EMRs and access the System's radiology and lab systems, the Moses Cone Health System IT staff selected the Cisco Unified Computing System and partner Varrow to help in the deployment. 

"We needed a cost-effective computing system that would enable us to expand our use of EMRs quickly over the next year, minimize network infrastructure build-out, and reduce time to rack and configure servers," says Michael Heil, manager of technology infrastructure, Moses Cone Health System.   "It took less than 17 minutes for two of us to unbox, rack, power and cable up the Fibre Channel over Ethernet connections when we got our third chassis. The organization has also benefitted from lower costs and faster disaster recovery."

Heil adds, "Cisco Unified Computing System has given our organization more flexibility and greater business agility, establishing a solid foundation to meet changing healthcare industry demands. It's an exciting time to be in healthcare, and tools like the Cisco Unified Computing System are helping us move forward."

For the Moses Cone Health System deployment, Cisco Services provided planning and design services to identify and address business and technical considerations before implementation. During deployment the Cisco Services team provided knowledge transfer and gave the IT staff hands-on experience with Cisco UCS Manager.

The Chinese University of Hong Kong:  Cisco Unified Computing System Provides Centralized Management, Scalability

Established in 1963, the Chinese University of Hong Kong is a comprehensive research university that recently selected Cisco Unified Computing System for its data center.

"The Cisco Unified Computing System offers a holistic solution to solve data center challenges by offering integrated management and the critical support necessary for scaling virtualization. By increasing the performance and scale of virtualized environments, this solution will help us to better serve our students, faculty and administrators," said Mr Philip Leung, director of Information Technology Services Centre, the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

RackForce:  Cisco Unified Computing System  Allows for Rapid Provisioning of Services to Meet Customer Requirements

RackForce is a leading provider of green dynamic datacenter services in the heart of British Columbia, and is the first Canadian service provider to deploy the Cisco Unified Computing System.  RackForce has selected Cisco's Data Center 3.0 solutions, including Cisco Nexus data center switches, MDS storage directors and the Cisco Unified Computing System to rapidly provision hosted and cloud services to its customer base.

"The Cisco Unified Computing System is groundbreaking technology that allows us to quickly provision virtualized services and adapt to changing market conditions to expand our business," said Tim Dufour, president of RackForce.  "As a GreenStar Network provider, we also applaud the carbon footprint efficiencies offered by the Cisco Unified Computing System."

Links/URLs

• Cisco Unified Computing System Website
• Cisco Nexus Website. 
• Read "Cisco Data Center Networks" blog
• Read Moses Cone Case Study
• View Moses Cone Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf-9PZWyFPY
• Read Seattle University Case Study
• Read Tele Sistemi Ferroviari, TSF S.p.A. Case Study 
• Cisco Services

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