Technology

A great philosopher once said, “Life moves pretty fast,” and it seems like life in technology moves even faster. At Wharton Computing we work on a myriad of projects every semester, and we seldom have time to sit back and reflect on all the completed projects we have under our belts.

Enter the Wharton Computing Current Projects page. This page, to be updated quarterly, highlights a number of ongoing and completed projects involving teams across Wharton Computing and the School. If you’ve ever wanted a glimpse into all the interesting things we’re up to, this is your chance (and you can meet some of the folks behind these projects at our 2012 Tech Expo).

The Virtual Desktop project here at Wharton Computing is collaborative effort between several main groups: Administrative Support, Public Technology, Executive Education, and Core Systems. After a limited pilot was successful we’ve transitioned many staff users to Virtual Desktops with plans to migrate even more by the end of next year.

Why are we bothering with Desktop virtualization? The embedded presentation gives an overview to other the technology itself, and why we’re implementing here at Wharton. Basically Desktop virtualization allows us to transfer the computing power and data storage of a standard desktop PC that is sitting on someone’s desk to a group of servers in our data center. By locating all of these resources centrally, Wharton Computing staff can efficiently deliver a robust selection of software to users, save on licensing costs by switching from individual installs to concurrent models, and have the stability and scalability of a datacenter to protect the organization’s data. The best part is most users can’t tell the difference between using a desktop versus using a virtual Desktop, that is until they log into their virtual desktop from an iPad for the first time.

The Wharton Connect mobile app is being released during this year’s Reunion. The app allows Wharton alumni to tap into the powerful Wharton network on the go.

Search the directory based on location, tag, and work history with just a few taps. You can even find fellow alums that are near your current location. The app also lists all alumni events and news in one location.

The Daily Pennsylvanian recently spoke with a number of people involved with the development of the app to get more details. We’ll post more when the app is available on the App Store.

Deirdre Woods, Associate Dean and CIO of Wharton, has written a blog post for Forbes which details how Wharton Computing managed to transform an internally developed tool (WRDS) into a revenue generating product used across the globe.

Deirdre highlights four lessons Wharton Computing learned during the process:

• Stay close to your core competencies
• Support your own user base
• Make investments
• Expand your skills

Read the whole post for more details about WRDS and some of the challenges that were faced as the product was brought to market.

Deirdre Woods recently sat down with IDG Enterprise’s executive editorial director Jim Malone for an interview focused on the changing nature of Enterprise technology. Deirdre and Jim touch on everything from competing with “cloud” service providers, social media, and the increasing need to support the devices that people bring with them (something Wharton Computing has a lot of experience with in particular).

Check out the interview here, and read the entire white paper for some insights from other industry leaders.