Academic Alliance
According to a 2011 study by IDC—The Digital Universe Study: Extracting Value from Chaos—the world is doubling the amount of information created every two years and, by 2020, will generate 50 times the amount of information that exists today. At the same time, Information Technology (IT) staff to manage this influx of information is predicted to grow less than 1.5 times.
EMC Academic Alliance is a collaboration with global educational institutions that is working to address this dilemma. The program is designed to prepare the next generation of IT professionals and provide the industry with a strong pipeline of graduates who will be well-positioned for IT roles as the landscape of storage, Cloud Computing and Big Data continues to grow and evolve.
More than 750 institutions, representing more than 40 countries, are members of the Academic Alliance. In 2011, 250 new universities and colleges joined from over 20 countries. More than 50,000 students received education on Information Storage and Management in 2011, and over 80,000 students have been reached since the program launched in 2006.
Curriculum & Tools
Membership in the Academic Alliance provides free access to "open" curriculum-based education covering topics such as information storage and management (ISM), virtualization, Cloud Computing, and Big Data analytics.
EMC subject matter experts work with professors to validate the curriculum, ensuring technical relevance and easy integration into academic programs. The ISM textbook, produced by EMC in 2009, serves as the information storage industry's only definitive reference resource.
Registered students have access to an online portal that includes case studies, videos, podcasts, and white papers. We also encourage students to connect with their global peers and industry experts through Facebook and Twitter, and the EMC Proven Professional online community.
Faculty Engagement
EMC’s Academic Alliance team engages with faculty to continually update and enhance the program. The team encourages feedback through our faculty portal, regular e-mail communications, and interactions with Academic Alliance program managers.
Program Expansion
In 2011, the Academic Alliance updated offerings in response to new IT trends and to incorporate feedback gleaned through faculty outreach and engagement. Three new course offerings, outlined below, have been developed to prepare students to plan, deploy, and manage complex IT infrastructures.
- Cloud Infrastructure and Services
- Backup Recovery Systems and Architecture
- Data Science and Big Data Analytics
The Academic Alliance program expanded engagement with the global higher education community through events and seminars, including hosting the third annual Academic Alliance Conference in 2011. Held in Chennai, India, the two-day event attracted more than 4,000 students and 250 faculty members.
EMC Localization Internship Program
In 2009, EMC launched the Localization Internship Program (ELI), a joint program of the Academic Alliance and EMC's Localization organization. The Localization team translates and tailors materials about EMC products and services so they can be easily used in languages other than English. Through the ELI program, students can apply what they have learned in the Academic Alliance and explore the possibilities of a career in translation and localization.
Students from universities around the world connect with each other via the ELI online community, fostering international and intercultural communication. In 2011, ELI launched partnerships with universities in China, Italy and Japan.