Virginia Tech is often in the vanguard by adopting new, innovative technologies in the area of personal computing. In 1984, the college was the first public institution in the U.S. to require its entering engineering freshmen to own a personal computer. In 2002, the college moved to a laptop requirement and many of its academic buildings were outfitted to offer wireless communication capabilities. Then, in 2006, VT became the largest and first public college of engineering to require Tablet PCs for its engineering freshmen. 

In 2006, the Virginia Tech College of Engineering announced an industry alliance with Fujitsu Computer Systems Corporation and Microsoft Corporation to support its new Tablet PC computing initiative for incoming freshmen. The alliance between Fujitsu, Microsoft, and Virginia Tech offers engineering students high levels of hardware and software purchasing power and support, and provides students, faculty, and staff with training and assistance throughout the development and implementation of new models of teaching and learning. 

The Fujitsu LifeBook® T4000 Series convertible Tablet PC combines the convenience and familiarity of a notebook with the powerful and versatile functionality of a slate Tablet PC. In conventional notebook mode, the Tablet PC offers a keyboard for typing. By rotating and folding the screen, it transforms into a tablet configuration. Using a stylus, students can make handwritten notes and drawings in a manner comparable to the way in which pen and paper are used. 

“We selected the Fujitsu LifeBook T4000 Series convertible Tablet PC based on its reliability and flexibility, as well as the company’s ability to support learning experiences in or outside of the classroom,” said Glenda Scales, associate dean for computing and distance learning, College of Engineering at Virginia Tech. “In our deliberations, we also balanced price, weight, service, screen size and years of corporate experience with Tablet PCs. While several vendors met our minimum computer requirements and were strong in a particular area, by selecting Fujitsu hardware we were able to meet the majority of our educational requirements for a Tablet PC.” 

Virginia Tech recently posted a video on its web site documenting the implementation and success of the Tablet PC Initiative. To view it, go to the College of Engineering web site Virginia Tech web site and click on the Virginia Tech College of Engineering Tablet PC Initiative image in the top of the right pane. 

Farmers Mutual Insurance of Nebraska is a large mutual company that caters to home, farm, and auto insurance customers in Nebraska and South Dakota. Recently, the company decided to make a major technology upgrade in order to streamline the labor-intensive, paper-based claims process. As part of that effort, the company sought out the best mobile technology solution for its adjusters to collect information electronically at loss sites. 

For the software portion of the package, they chose Symbility Solutions mobile claims software. After analyzing a variety of different convertible and slate Tablet PCs from several vendors, they settled on the Fujitsu LifeBook® T4000 Series convertible Tablet PC. According to Robert Busboom, Vice President, Corporate Systems and IT at Farmers Mutual, “The Fujitsu Tablet PC provided the best combination of price, features and warranty. Combine those decision factors with Fujitsu’s years of experience in Tablet PC technology, and the Fujitsu Tablet PC came out a clear winner.” 

Busboom continued, “The mobile claims solution has enabled our adjusters to perform all the work necessary to complete an estimate on site. The end result has been faster, more accurate claims and happier customers.” 

To read the entire white paper about how the Fujitsu solution contributed to the successful transition to electronic data collection at Farmers Mutual, go to this link. 

DePaul High School is a private college prep high school in Wayne, New Jersey. DePaul recently set out to find the ideal technological solution to teach its students the fundamental computer skills they will require in college. The school had decided that they would need a device that would be portable, reliable, and durable. After extensive research, they decided that the Fujitsu LifeBook T3000 and T4000 series Tablet PCs best fit the bill. 

“We wanted the technology to be a tool rather than a distraction,” says Sue Parler, DePaul’s technology coordinator and a longtime teacher. DePaul also wanted to give students and teachers the option of taking handwritten notes and turning in handwritten work or using a keyboard to write composition papers. 

To read the white paper that discusses the deployment of the Tablet PCs into the classroom, be sure to visit this link. 

A tip o’ the hat and sincere thanks to all of our customers who gave their time in 2006 to present their success stories at industry-related events. We look forward to continuing these relationships and creating new ones in 2007.
Richard Roseman, Vice President Information Technology, News America Marketing
“Modernizing Business Practices: Tools for Innovation and Cost Reduction”
Computerworld Premier 100, March 5-7, Palm Desert, CA
Tom Orsi, Vice President of Marketing Systems, Thomson Learning
“The Magic Portfolio — Cutting Costs and Improving Sales Efficiency Using Tablet Technology”
Gartner Wireless & Mobile Summit, March 27-29, Detroit, MI
Steve Abernathy, Director of Marketing Technology, Shaw Industries, Inc.
“Mobilized Empowerment—Shaw Industries Streamlines Sales”
CIO100 Symposium, August 20-22, Coronado, CA
Andy Gomez, Sr. Vice President, Shared Application Services and
Tim Dooley, Vice President, Technology Manager, Enterprise BPM Architecture
Bank of America
“Enterprise Adoption of BPM at Bank of America”
Gartner ITxpo Symposium, October 8-13, Orlando, FL
Joe Tront, Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Virginia Tech
“Engineering Wide-Scale Adoption of Tablet PCs at Virginia Tech”
Gartner ITxpo Symposium, October 8-13, Orlando, FL
Tanya Townsend, Director of Information Technology, Saint Clare’s Hospital
“Developing an Effective All-Digital Healthcare Environment”
Gartner Healthcare IT Summit, November 13-15, Coronado, CA
Congratulations to Tanya for winning the “Best Case Study Presentation” award.
Todd Christy, Managing Director of Infrastructure and Security, US Airways
“Legacy Modernization at US Airways”
Gartner Data Center Conference, November 27-December 1, Las Vegas, NV
If you’re interested in joining our speaking and/or customer success story program, please contact krichardson@us.fujitsu.com.

At the recent Gartner Data Center Conference held in Las Vegas, Nevada, attendees were presented with a success story from US Airways. Todd Christy, Managing Director of Infrastructure and Security at US Airways not only faced migrating legacy applications to an open systems platform, he also faced the daunting challenge of merging two airline infrastructures into one seamless operation. As if that wasn’t enough, he needed to optimize IT resources and vendor relationships in order to maintain business continuity, reduce TCO and improve operational efficiency.
In order to accomplish these goals, US Airways partnered with Fujitsu to provide PRIMEPOWER (Fujitsu Solaris-based servers) and multi-vendor maintenance services. The Fujitsu engineering team, in collaboration with the US Airways IT team, provided services for all mid-range and IBM mainframe servers, conducted performance and reliability checks, and managed the migration of legacy platforms.
The result? Increased capacity, reliability and performance that resulted in fewer delays, significant savings, and faster resolution of issues with zero operational impact.
If you’re interested in learning some of the history behind the Fujitsu-US Airways collaboration (when US Airways was still America West), go to this link.

At the recent CIO 100 conference held in Southern California, a representative of Shaw Industries, Inc., gave a presentation about the company’s successful adoption of Fujitsu Tablet PCs and sales force automation to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and profitability of its sales force. 

Shaw Industries is a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., and produces and sells residential and commercial flooring to customers around the world. Shaw’s 1,200 US and Canadian-based sales reps sell more than 25,000 different products using the phone, on-site customer visits, and paper order forms. Previously, territory managers were couriered a seven-pound package of pricing and product information each week, while orders and price changes were faxed in by sales reps, and then keyed into the company’s order entry system by a clerk. Processes were redundant, time-consuming, and error-prone. 

The enlightening presentation was delivered by Steve Abernathy, Director of Marketing Technology at Shaw Industries, Inc. Abernathy has been overseeing technological advancements for Shaw Industries, Inc. for over 20 years. His presentation illustrates how Shaw Industries, facing rising costs of materials and shrinking profit margins, improved the efficiency and accuracy of its sales force through the implementation of Fujitsu Tablet PCs and mobile Sales Force Automation technologies, automating key sales job functions including pricing, ordering, claims processing, and online research, resulting in maintained profitability. 

To watch a video of the presentation, click here.