The King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) was awarded the best information technology project of the year in the category ‘Data Center Virtualization' at the NetworkWorld 2010 IT Conference held in Dubai at the end of last month. The event was sponsored by the International Data Group (IDG) and Corporate Publishing International (CPI). Sustainability, efficiency and true innovation in data center design and operations at KFUPM were the basis for the recognition, according to Dr. Sadiq M. Sait, CIO and Director of the KFUPM Information Technology Center. Dr. Sait, who received the award, said the NetworkWorld awards are one of the most prestigious in the region and are fast becoming established as the IT industry's most prized accolades. “KFUPM's Green IT Initiative was the cornerstone of the virtualization project that achieved three critical goals - efficient server consolidation, robust disaster recovery implementation and on-demand server provisioning. Reduced data center footprint, savings from procurement freeze of low-end servers, and improved usage of servers are some of the other business benefits realized,” Dr. Sait said. KFUPM was also the top runner-up for two other categories, the IT Security and Storage project of the year awards. The Security project shortlisted for the award was the KFUPM Security Information and Event Management System (SIEM) designed to provide a centralized view of enterprise-wide security events. The Storage Project at KFUPM is based on an intelligent setup of advanced replication technologies for the Business Continuity Center at KFUPM. More than 160 agencies and organizations participated in this year's awards. A highly acclaimed panel of judges was constituted to select the winners. On receiving the award, Dr. Sait acknowledged the KFUPM top management as the driving force behind the achievement. “I am pleased that we have been recognized for continuing to bring new technology to the data center that positively impacts business at KFUPM and we will continue to ensure that IT at KFUPM remains integral to the growing digital campus. All our IT employees work tremendously hard to ensure the leadership position of KFUPM in IT and I'm delighted their efforts have been rewarded with such a prestigious accolade,” Dr. Sait said.
