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IBM Mainframe Supports University of Toronto's Expanding Student Body

Posted on: Wednesday, 11 October 2006, 12:00 CDT

IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that the University of Toronto has installed a new System z9 Business Class (z9 BC) mainframe to achieve the scale, security and reliability required to keep pace with the growing demands of the academic community.

Marrying the power of virtual servers with the simplicity of a single physical system, the new z9 BC will effectively manage the information and records of an academic community. It will also take advantage of the Capacity on Demand (CoD) function to manage spikes in utilization during course registration, finals and posting of grades when thousands of students access the system at once. Through CoD, the university can increase capacity dramatically, allowing students to register with no glitches or delays.

The z9 BC will also be valued for its security capabilities during annual student elections. Students are able to log in to the system front end securely and promptly and vote only once.

"We felt an immediate change when we got the System z BC up to its full capacity with the on demand function," said Eugene Siciunas, director of Computing & Networking Services, University of Toronto. "We've seen a night versus day difference in the quality of the student experience here with enhancements like expedited course registration -- key to our success since students are our business."

Founded in 1827, the University of Toronto is Canada's largest and most distinguished university. It has been using the mainframe platform for its student system for the past 30 years and has a student population of over 65,000.

"The University of Toronto is very much like today's commercial businesses that demand powerful and rock-solid computing foundations to ensure their clients have positive user experiences and stay satisfied," said Jim Stallings, general manager of System z, IBM. "IBM is delighted that a world-renowned institute of higher learning such as The University of Toronto has continued to build on its mainframe legacy to enhance the experience it offers its student and faculty population."

Starting at about $100,000, the IBM System z9 BC broadens access to the System z9 platform -- the world's most secure commercially available mainframe computer -- around the globe, where firms are rapidly deploying mainframe technology needed to achieve the security and reliability needed in today's economy.

The new system is designed for a world that each day is generating vast amounts of data and transactions from many different sources, both heterogeneous and homogeneous networks of machines.

For more information about IBM, visit http://www.ibm.com.

About University of Toronto

Established in 1827, the University of Toronto is Canada's largest university, recognized as a global leader in research and teaching. U of T's distinguished faculty, institutional record of groundbreaking scholarship and wealth of innovative academic opportunities continually attract outstanding students and academics from around the world. U of T is committed to providing a learning experience that benefits from both a scale almost unparalleled in North America and from the close-knit learning communities made possible through its college system and academic divisions.

 PRESS CONTACT: Bruce McConnel IBM Media Relations, System z 914.766.4427 direct 203.278.4247 mobile wmcconn@us.ibm.com Mainframe blog:  www.mainframe.typepad.com

SOURCE: IBM

Source: MARKET WIRE

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