The University of Missouri (Mizzou) relies on digital systems to power every aspect of campus life – from classes and research labs to clinics, residence halls, athletic facilities, public safety and countless other services. Recognizing the need for unwavering reliability, Mizzou’s IT team set a bold goal: build a dependable and unified technology foundation that operates so smoothly it becomes invisible, so people can focus on their work, their studies and their community.
Working with Dell Technologies, Mizzou has turned this vision into reality, developing a modern digital platform that improves both performance and resiliency while paving the way for future IT innovation.
Powering critical services with Dell PowerStore
Reliability is paramount, especially when it comes to campus safety and communications. Mizzou relies on Dell PowerStore to run its Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) system, which includes 911 services for the campus and the hospital. “That’s not something you can afford to have go down,” says Tracy McCubbin, senior manager of IT. “With sub-millisecond latency and zero complaints, PowerStore delivers.”
The ease of deployment and integration helps, too. “Getting a PowerStore up and running is something you can do over lunch,” McCubbin adds.
Keeping applications available with Dell PowerMax
Across campus, Dell PowerMax supports hundreds of critical applications such as housing, grading and authentication. Its all-flash performance and Symmetrix Remote Data Facility (SRDF) replication ensure workloads remain protected and readily available across sites. “We don’t even know what an outage is anymore,” McCubbin says. “Upgrades happen in the middle of the day and no one notices.”
The result is resilient infrastructure that seamlessly supports the university’s academic, research and operational priorities without disruption.
Accelerating ERP and virtual environments with Dell PowerFlex and Dell PowerEdge
Fragmented legacy systems once caused bottlenecks and frequent troubleshooting for the university.
Today, the university’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, which handles HR, finance and student data, now runs on Dell PowerFlex for speed and flexibility, enabling smoother migrations and updates. On the compute side, Dell PowerEdge servers host hundreds of virtual machines, all managed with OpenManage tools to ensure consistency and save time. “Going all‑flash means performance issues just don’t exist anymore,” McCubbin says.
Results that matter for students, faculty and staff
Modernization at Mizzou has delivered tangible, impactful results. By consolidating systems and using Dell’s advanced data reduction technologies, Mizzou reduced its data center footprint by up to 50%, cutting energy costs and freeing up valuable floor space. With fewer systems to maintain, reduced IT escalations and increased automation, the team can now focus on creating smarter, student‑focused services. The benefits are clear:
- Students submitting assignments at 11:59 p.m. can enjoy responsive systems and real-time confirmations.
- Faculty posting grades or accessing course tools experience consistent performance, even during peak usage.
- Hospital and campus staff rely on uninterrupted access to critical systems when they need them the most.
A clear path forward
With a stable and secure IT foundation, Mizzou’s IT team is now exploring AI and machine learning to enhance services and support data‑driven decision-making. This purposeful innovation is designed to advance academic excellence. “If a new technology helps students succeed or makes life easier for faculty, that’s when it matters,” McCubbin says.
Mizzou’s approach offers a modern IT blueprint for higher‑education leaders: once reliability and performance are assured, teams can focus on the future‑ready services that elevate teaching, research and community impact.
Learn more about our higher education solutions and explore how modern storage can support research, teaching and community impact across campus.
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Source: www.dell.com
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