Background
Wartburg Theological Seminary is one of eight theological schools of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Each year, Wartburg educates approximately 200 people from all over the world to serve the church’s mission. Established in 1854, Wartburg Seminary is a community where learning leads to mission, and mission informs learning.
Customer Needs
Wartburg was functioning with several standalone PCs throughout campus, but no network. Students, staff, and faculty knew it was time to for the school to implement a campus-wide network. They didn’t have e-mail or Internet access on campus, which not only hurt productivity, but also affected Wartburg’s recruitment efforts. Students and staff members also needed training on how to properly use and store programs and documents on a network.
Solution
CEC took Wartburg from having no network to where the school is today: utilizing a robust, wireless IT network. To establish Wartburg’s campus-wide network, the school’s first servers were implemented in 2001, along with roaming profiles and access to the Internet and campus e-mail for each desktop. Eight years later, CEC integrated a wireless solution throughout the Wartburg campus.
After partnering with CEC, Wartburg Theological Seminary now has:
- A campus-wide IT network utilizing long-range Ethernet that was suitable for Wartburg’s campus set-up, which includes 79 single-dwelling houses and apartment buildings that aren’t located on the main campus.
- An updated and rebranded website, developed and designed by CEC.
- Networking knowledge and experience that was taught by CEC engineers.
- Wireless access established through a site survey, which identified the correct access points to use and where they should be located. The survey results can be used in the future when Wartburg expands its wireless service.
- Blocks of labor/consulting hours to use for a variety of CEC’s IT-related projects and services.
We went from nothing to everything in terms of an IT network, and CEC was looking out for my best interests the entire time. The company stands behind what it promises and what employees say. With CEC, I never question whether the work will be what I want or if it will be honest.
