Public and private universities today are judged by prospective students on the basis of their ability to offer cutting-edge technology while preserving academic freedom. A modern campus must be able to give students, on and off campus, 24-hour access to myriad information such as classmates, materials, coursework, internships, and employment.

Universities must also address higher-level issues such as security and improved operations systems, all in the midst of dwindling budgets, lost endowments, and reduced alumni donations.

In response to these challenges, the Cisco® Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG) is helping institutions navigate student needs by providing access to information while cutting costs. Projects include distributed e-learning, and voice-over-IP and wireless services. At the University of North Carolina, IBSG helped the university develop a business plant to migrate to IP telephony and to integrate applications, such as directories and guest information delivery, at any desktop.

Outside the United States, IBSG is working with Stanford, Tec de Monterrey in Mexico, and the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology to provide healthcare information via the Web to rural Mexico.

At the university operations level, IBSG is helping clients implement enterprise resource planning applications for finance and human resources.