Huawei’s Smart Campus network solution deploys an agile network offering faster and more reliable connectivity across school’s premises

In line with its commitment to create an environment that is conducive to modern learning, Sherborne Qatar selected Huawei and Saturn to deploy a fully integrated Smart Campus network, allowing both staff and students to enjoy faster connectivity and a streamlined secure access to the school’s network and education tools. By implementing a full agile campus infrastructure, Sherborne Qatar’s faculty and students are now able to seamlessly experience the latest e-learning technology thanks to a software based architecture that can allow IT managers to better manage the school’s network and ensure that it operates at its optimum.

In an age where we live in an information-driven society, the need to access information quickly through cloud computing, the Internet and smart education tools is key. Digital learning platforms have begun penetrating every aspect of campus life. School networks need to increase their bandwidth to support the multi-media education applications that teachers are using more often to engage their students today.

Sherborne Qatar’s previous network needed increased bandwidth requirements to adopt new modes of e-learning platforms. Following the implementation of Huawei’s Smart Campus Network, the school has been able to accommodate the huge bandwidth required to ensure that interactive learning tools can be effectively utilized in the classroom. With a software-based infrastructure that is more flexible than ever before, the new agile network also allows for the infrastructure to be easily built and programmed according to the education needs of the faculty. IT managers maintaining the network are able to respond to requirements on-demand, and have the power of scalability to accommodate future plans to build out more college campuses.

Hailing from its elite and historic sister school in the United Kingdom, Sherborne Qatar is one of the most respected schools in the country and prides itself on delivering the highest standards of education.

”Sherborne Qatar holds itself to the high standards of our UK counterpart with a vision to offer the best learning experiences possible for our students. We have seen the role that innovative technology plays in enabling a more dynamic, interactive and fruitful learning environment. We wanted to create an engaging educational environment for our students so that they are able to reach the highest levels of academic success. Huawei’s Smart Campus solution was able to address the issues we were facing. The team helped us to build a scalable infrastructure that allows us the flexibility to easily extend e-learning platforms to more college campuses in the near future,” said Michelle Walker, Sherborne’s School IT Manager.

Leading on the project, Huawei, a global ICT solutions provider, utilized its expertise in deploying smart education solutions to implement the Smart Campus Network, which included the latest in switches, WiFi connectivity, Firewall Security protection and routers. The solution forms part of Huawei’s Agile Network series that is designed to prepare itself for the Software-Defined-Networking era that will assist end-users with addressing the future challenges of network development and convergence.

Emad Ramadan, Director, Huawei, Enterprise Business, Qatar said: “In an increasingly digital age, educators are taking steps to deploy an ICT infrastructure based on campus wide networks that are agile and can easily accommodate new service requests on demand. This has been a prevalent trend in Qatar in light of its Smart City vision to develop into a digital knowledge economy. Being involved in such collaboration is an important part of Huawei’s commitment to enriching the region’s education sector and building a better society through sharing knowledge and ICT expertise.”

Huawei has already modernized learning and development through several education solutions rolled out in the Middle East, such as the deployment of its Cloud Virtual Desktop (VDI) solution in 35 training colleges at Technical Vocation and Training Corporation (TVTC) in Saudi Arabia. The solution has since been able to help the educational institute create seamless integration between college applications and help reduce IT maintenance costs through reducing the level of power consumption by 80% and less need for hardware investment.

“Huawei has future-proofed the school’s network for some time to come. Sherborne Qatar now has state-of-the-art network infrastructure, which will allow both students and staff to utilize all aspects of information technology for educational success,” continued Emad.

Huawei also deployed an e-Classroom program for the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) in Abu Dhabi in 2012 and 2013, which has since allowed students and faculty access to a host of digital tools, creating a more interactive learning environment. The program is elevating the students’ classroom learning experiences through support for real-time interactions via high definition audio and video tools, convenient course recording and streaming, interactive e-whiteboards and more immersive applications.