Press Release - February 22, 2011 |
| SCALAR FLOATS UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH ON TO THE CLOUD University to deploy 60,000 mailboxes on a public cloud Toronto, Canada, February 22, 2011 –Today, Scalar Decisions, the Toronto-headquartered IT solutions integrator, announced that the University of Guelph will be migrating from their on-premise email system to Scalar’s cloud-based service. With the migration of over 60,000 mailboxes, Guelph has become one of the first universities in Canada to leverage cloud computing. The hosted email solution is Scalar Managed Zimbra. The service is built around the Zimbra Collaboration Server, an email and collaboration software that was acquired by virtualization firm VMware in 2010. University of Guelph and Scalar already have a relationship dating back to 2007, when Scalar originally moved the University to the Zimbra email and collaboration platform with an on-site deployment model. Bo Wandschneider, Deputy CIO at Guelph, says they are moving to a hosted model to enhance service and further capitalize on cost savings, efficiencies and the increased availability and security that cloud deployment offers. “The move to Scalar Managed Zimbra puts us on a par with leading universities around the world and further demonstrates Guelph’s commitment to improving student and faculty experience while at the same time introducing significant cost savings and service efficiencies,” he said. Canadian universities have been slow to adopt cloud services, with one reason being privacy concerns related to the US Patriot Act. However, as Scalar Managed Zimbra is an entirely Canadian hosted email solution, it offers a secure option that maintains data privacy. Combined with the increasing demand for users to be able to access email and calendars at any time from a diverse array of devices including smartphones, laptops and tablets, it is likely that many more universities will be following Guelph’s lead. Zimbra has already penetrated 200,000 organizations and has deployed over 66 million mailboxes worldwide. "Universities and the education sector in general are starting to look at their options for delivering next-generation email to their users,” said Paul Kerr, President and CEO of Scalar Decisions, “The Scalar-Managed Zimbra offering marks a significant move forward in delivering a world-class solution right here in Canada, and our unique expertise in the area of cloud enablement puts us at the forefront of this drive," he added. "A clear trend emerging is that organizations are increasingly looking to deploy core services in the cloud,” said Grant Aitken, Area VP of VMware. “As Scalar is our lead partner for Zimbra in Canada we are delighted to join with them to offer the University of Guelph cutting-edge technologies and value-add solutions that reinforce VMware’s commitment to focusing on end-user experience.” About Scalar Decisions About the University of Guelph About Zimbra For further information or to arrange interviews, please contact: Aoife Mc Monagle, Scalar Decisions |
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