Bolton Institute selects Esteem Computers plc for advanced "Teaching over the Internet" systems
Esteem Computers plc wins major contract
Esteem Computers plc have been awarded the contract to supply Sun Microsystems servers and specialist storage to Bolton Institute. The equipment forms a part of a total spend in excess of £1 million provided by the Department for Education and Employment to enable training to be carried out by remote control through the Internet.
Bolton Institute is designated by the UK Government and the European Commission as the Microelectronics Business Centre for the north of England. It is also the Technology Transfer Node for advising industry on the use of the latest electronic technology. Building on this strength, and in conjunction with the Northumbria University (UNN), it has established a three year, distance learning course over the Internet called Advanced Microelectronics for Industrialists (AMI). The course leads to the award of MSc and is designed to provide busy industrial designers and managers with an understanding of how the latest microelectronics can be used in products and product development.
Teaching over the Internet is of considerable interest for universities and academic institutions worldwide. However, Bolton Institute has a significantly higher than usual proportion of engineers and scientists who undertake courses whilst still working for their companies - busy people who expect the course services to be available at a time of their choosing. The result is a need for a service with a much higher resilience than is generally associated with student courses. Roy Attwood, Project Manager commented: "While specifying our requirements and negotiating with approved suppliers, we stressed the need for very high availability levels in all components of the system. Esteem Computers showed a real understanding of our needs in terms of the hardware, software and supporting expertise and emerged as the clear winners. The new Sun Microsystems servers will help us to ensure that we maintain our leading position ".
Wetherby (Leeds), Manchester and Bristol based Esteem Computers plc is one of the UK's leading resellers for the Sun Microsystems range of UNIX servers and workstations. It provides UNIX solutions, integrated with PCs and NT systems where appropriate, and supports them to the highest level of Sun's accreditation, known as EL2000. With specialists in all areas of communication, including the Internet and E=Commerce, Esteem has major clients amondustrial and commercial companies in addition to those in the public sector.
Formed in 1985 by Richard Doyle, the Chairman and Managing director, Esteem Computers Plc has grown every year to become a national supplier and is now set to accelerate rapidly. This clearly means more staff, more office space, more clients - am may mean a new capital structure. The opportunity for rapid expansion arises from the excellent position that each of the three Divisions currently has in their respective, high growth market sectors.
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The Sun Microsystems Division is the accredited
Academic Business Centre for the North of England and has a significant
position in the public sector throughout the UK. The growth of the
Internet, where Sun is the leading supplier of systems, represents a major
opportunity.
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The Windows NT Division is a Microsoft Certified
Partner and through negotiated agreements with key software vendors, is
one of the UK's leading installers of thin-client/server solutions.
This has attracted significant interest from major organisations and the
potential is enormous.
- The Electronic Document Management Division was one of the first such specialist groups to be established in the UK and is now reaping the reward for its pioneering work. Strong relationships with the key international suppliers of software is again a major achievement.
All these interrelated Divisions are supported by a total service approach that provides consultancy, systems integration, training, telephone support, and project management.
| For further information about AMI at Bolton Institute: | www.bolton.ac.uk |
| For further information about Esteem Computers: | www.esteem.co.uk |
For further information relating to this Press Release:
| Stuart Rawson at Esteem: | Tel: 01937 84111 | e-mail: s.rawson@esteem.co.uk |
| or Roy Attwood at Bolton: | Tel: 01204 903667 | e-mail: r.attwood@bolton.ac.uk |
Prepared by Nick
Willard of Esteem Computers and published here with permission.
Published by the CET Postgraduate Programmes Office,
Bolton Institute. 24.3.99 RA