Gulf Business Machines enables IT infrastructure at Royal University for Women

GBM's offered solution will provide the latest in computing and networking technologies and is based on Cisco Systems Campus Networking Solution featuring state-of-the-art Local Area Networking (LAN), Wide Area Networking (WAN), network security and management and IP Telephony. A fully wireless environment will provide all staff and students with the ability to stay connected 24/7 wherever they are on campus. The solution will allow students and staff member's to make use of the vast internet resources and supplementary course materials.

The campus facilities were designed specifically to offer undergraduate and post-graduate studies in business, education, interior design, graphic design, fashion design and computer science. These courses will be delivered in conjunction with its partner universities, both of which have unparalleled reputations in the offered fields and international acclaim for their course syllabi. The planned courses will be rolled out in phases allowing for their complete integration with the installed solution.

The solution also includes the latest in security platforms for the entire network, ensuring secure access for staff and students to all network functions, from internet access to video conferencing. GBM will be making use of its extensive network of business partners to offer RUW a range of specialised products and services which integrate seamlessly with the Cisco Infrastructure offering best of breed products in the area of network and internet security.

"From the outset, we have maintained that any solution implemented at RUW must focus on networking and network security. This is due to the unique nature of the university and its collaboration with international universities. Courses offered at RUW will be supplemented with state-of-the-art computing resources, which will be accessible from the university campus itself, or from the students and faculty member's homes," commented Mr. Mohammed Al-Zamil, Chairman of the Board of Directors of RUW.

"GBM's offered solution encompasses all of our parameters and, with such a strong reputation in the industry, we are happy they will be working with us to ensure the best experience for all of our staff and students".

"Our network solution is intelligent, highly manageable and extremely scalable in order to cater to RUW's future growth. It offers maximum network security to ensure secure access to both the Internet and partner universities. The planned IP network is also leveraged to provide IP telephony which will allow the university to deploy real time communication applications in the future while minimizing costs by avoiding maintenance of separate networks for data and voice," said Cesare Cardone, CEO, GBM.

GBM was recently named the 'Cisco Security Partner of the Year 2005' at the Cisco Partner Summit held earlier this month. GBM is certified as a Cisco 'GOLD' Partner, which is the highest level of partnership with Cisco. This gives RUW the access to a highly skilled team of Cisco certified engineers and a 24x7 based support structure to ensure maximum availability of this mission critical deployment.

The signing ceremony took place at the Gulf Hotel recently. Cesare Cardone and Mr. Mohammed Al-Zamil, as well as numerous executives from both parties attended the ceremony.