31 March 2003, London…The Centre for Engineering and Manufacturing Excellence (CEME) a nationwide government initiative providing the infrastructure for an integrated learning environment in the Thames Gateway and Microsoft Ltd, has announced that Windows Server 2003 will sit at the heart of CEME's IT infrastructure for its ground-breaking IT strategy. CEME, a collaboration between business, education and government, plans to use Windows Server 2003 to future-proof its high tech learning centre, revolutionising the way its students learn.
Roy Sharples, IT Lead, CEME said, "The IT project started about 18 months ago with a remit from the board of directors to match a state of the art learning facility to a state of the art IT plan. This led us on a fact-finding mission across a range of education establishments in the UK, Europe and the USA. The results indicated that in many cases, these establishments viewed IT as a cost rather than an opportunity and few used it to enhance the learning experience and to make their business more efficient. We did not want to make the same mistake and our choice of IT partners was essential." CEME chose Microsoft to meet their objectives of providing ongoing scalability, manageability and increased security. Microsoft partner and solutions provider, Civica were then used to execute the IT architecture, configure the business processes, define the user interface and ensure the back office system enterprise and business solution all worked 100% from day one. According to Olaf Akkerman, Business Director, Civica Services, "the end result will be an IT learning solution of national significance, and one that is closely aligned with the needs of students and lecturers." The project was divided into two phases. Phase one involved the delivery of learning through static PCs, while phase two will bring online a pool of laptops and Tablet PCs for students and academics to use. The intention is not to replace traditional learning methods with PCs, but to offer a blended learning environment that uses the most appropriate methods in any particular case. Sean McIlveen HR Director- Ford of Britain & CEME Director said; "CEME's aim is to provide a world leading and exciting learning environment which will use IT to seamlessly integrate traditional with advanced ways of delivering learning and help empower our people to learn, work and develop." While the manufacturing and engineering remit will mean workshops and hands-on experience to support the practical side of the courses, all theory lectures and computer training will be delivered through tailored learning solutions. Broadband will enable students to remotely view and download lectures, and a wireless network will give students the ability to learn at anytime, anywhere, on any device. Mark Tennant, Microsoft Windows Server 2003 product manager, "As CEME needs to be available 24x7, reliability is a key requirement. Technology such as clustering and resilience based on Windows 2003 Advanced Server is being used to achieve this. Scalability is another key enabler as the IT infrastructure will need to adjust as the Internet user base develops alongside the internal users and Windows Server 2003 will enable CEME to scale to meet these demands in the future." A knowledge and learning management portal based on Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server, Microsoft Content Management Server, and Microsoft Commerce Server is also being developed to ensure a customised and personalised experience. Microsoft Business Solutions and Great Plains are providing human resource management, finance, and customer relationship management modules. The whole back office operation will be run on Microsoft products, with an enterprise solution based on Windows 2003, Exchange, and SQL Servers. A Cisco firewall alongside Microsoft ISA Server will enable and maintain a high level of security and Active Directory will integrate with Commerce Server to ensure authenticated secure access. Smart cards will be used for physical security. On the desktop, CEME is using Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Office XP. Mobile and wireless communication will be based on Cisco Wireless LAN, and Voice over IP will be used for the telecommunications. All data, voice and video will run over the same network to enhance the e-learning experience. "Students will have an integrated and informed learning experience at CEME because of the way we are developing our enterprise software across real-time computing platforms and integrating voice, data, video and wireless networks making information highly available, accessible and usable" concludes Sharples. CEME will officially open for business in September 2003, with Cisco providing the networking and IBM the rest of the hardware. .
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About CEMEThe Centre for Engineering and Manufacturing Excellence is a not-for-profit partnership between Ford Motor Company, London Development Agency, Heart of Thames Gateway, Barking College and Havering College dedicated to providing a world-leading and exciting learning environment. Its aim is to encourage a diverse, socially inclusive, innovative range of learning activities that build engineering, manufacturing and business capability in the Thames Gateway. CEME will encourage a strong enterprise culture based on entrepreneurial leadership, lean operational concepts and supported by creative Information Technology.About Civica Ltd Civica is one of the UK's most experienced specialist providers of software and services to the public sector. Formed in April 2002 from the Sanderson Group's principal public sector serving businesses, the company has an 18-year history of delivering effective software solutions in the UK and Australia, to local authorities, police forces, healthcare, criminal justice and education organisations, and major commercial firms. Civica Services Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary, is an approved Prime Contractor for software in the UK Government's GCat procurement catalogue. For more information on Civica, please visit www.civica.co.uk.
About MicrosoftFounded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software - any time, any place and on any device.For more information contact Shiri Blatt or Kylie Kraus Tel: 0208 434 561 or Tel: 0208 434 5528 Email: Shiri.Blatt@augustone.com or Kylie.Kraus@augustone.com Or,Microsoft Press Centre Tel: 0870 20 77 377 (press only) ukprteam@microsoft.com