U Of A Creates E-Business Professionals With IBM Gift

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Computing students at the University of Arkansas can assure themselves of jobs when they graduate, thanks to a recent technology gift from IBM. The world’s largest information technology (IT) company has donated an S/390 Enterprise Server and a substantial amount of software to three academic units on campus as well as to UA University IT Services. The gift is valued at $1 million.

"There is a current shortage of IT workers," said David E. Douglas, UA professor of Computer Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis. "One of the key areas of shortage is trying to find people with experience in large enterprise systems (mainframes) such as the S/390. This computer and software will enable our students to get the front-line experience they need to land high-demand technology jobs."

Greg Heger, IBM senior location executive for Northwest Arkansas, said, "IBM is pleased to be able to help the University of Arkansas in creating an innovative program in direct response to the needs of our S/390 customers. The S/390 platform continues to play a central role in all types of companies, driving the need for skilled professionals to implement their strategies and maintain their competitive edge."

The gift supports a new course of study called the enterprise computing option, which is a collaboration between UA’s Computer Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis in the Sam M. Walton College of Business Administration; Computer Science and Computer Engineering in both the College of Engineering and the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences; and the University’s University IT Services.

In addition to IBM, five Arkansas businesses — Acxiom Corporation; American Freightways Corporation; Arkansas Best Corporation; Dillard’s, Inc.; and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. — will provide support for the continuing operation of the computer.

Robert Crisp, professor of computer engineering, said, "We are very grateful to IBM and these partners for their support. This gift would not have been possible without the cooperation among the three academic units and University IT Services. The system will be dedicated to student and research use so that they can learn all facets of enterprise computing — an opportunity that would not have been available without this gift. "

Robert Zimmerman, director of University IT Services, said, "IBM benefits from its investment in education because it needs skilled workers for the future. The S/390 offers the capabilities to handle e-commerce and international transaction demands for 24 X 7 computing everyday of the year."

Douglas added, "We think the S/390 is the most reliable, available, secure, scalable and manageable server on the market."

Most large businesses have enterprise systems at their primary information processing systems. The number of students with experience on enterprise systems is limited, so there is a tremendous demand for personnel to support the large installed base of enterprise computing.

The UA enterprise computing course of study offers flexibility to students. They can take a basic course and learn a little about the system, or they can develop a specialization in enterprise computing and graduate with substantial expertise. Courses are offered to both graduates and upper-level undergraduate students. Another advantage for students is the opportunity to work in multidisciplinary groups. Courses will include engineering, business, and arts and sciences disciplines and give students first-hand knowledge of how these areas work together.

IBM S/390 servers support the world’s most successful businesses and organizations by providing industry-leading levels of scalability, availability and security for large-scale enterprise computing needs. The S/390 platform is a leader in running multiple, diverse, mission-critical workloads and applications, including e-business, financial and administrative, business intelligence and enterprise resource planning.

(Note: A photograph is available for pick-up or on the web at http://pigtrail.uark.edu/news/ )

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