Leading Saudi University Enhances Classroom, Lab, and Remote Learning Experiences While Surpassing Cost-Saving Expectations by Standardizing on Nutanix
Jeddah University, one of Saudi Arabia’s newest academic institutions, offers innovative programmes designed to prepare students for leadership roles in the Kingdom’s evolving job market. Its focus on digital learning underscores the university’s alignment with Saudi Vision 2030, which aims to establish a digitally driven, knowledge-based economy.
When VDI-related operational costs, inconsistent performance, and IT management complexity began to affect students’ remote learning and research lab experiences, the University seized the opportunity to standardise on Nutanix. The deployment not only met performance expectations — it exceeded them — and even outperformed the University’s ambitious cost-reduction goals.
Exceeds Cost Savings Estimates
Reduced TCO by 40%, surpassing cost-reduction stretch-target of 30%.
Effortless and Effective Scalability
New VDI machines provisioned in under 3 minutes, ensuring fast, seamless access to academic resources as student body grows.
Ease of Management
Cut management overhead and operational time by over 45%, enabling IT to refocus efforts on innovation.
We’ve seen significant improvements across every key metric — performance, scalability, security, and ease of management. Our students have greatly benefitted, and operating costs have been reduced by an incredible 40%. It’s truly remarkable.
As one of the most modern Saudi public universities, Jeddah University is pioneering the ‘New Saudi University Mission’. Collaboration, innovation, and community impact underpin this initiative, which seeks to deliver a differentiated education through the integration of research and study. This makes virtual desktops indispensable to students, who rely on them to attend classes, participate in labs, collaborate with batchmates, and access learning resources in a secure and seamless manner.
Due to the University’s growing popularity and rapidly expanding student body, the operating costs, performance, and management of workstations were becoming increasingly challenging for the IT team. “We decided to get ahead of these issues by deploying a platform for secure, scalable, and high-performance virtual desktops,” said Hosam G. Mutir, Systems Engineer at Jeddah University.
Thorough and fair assessment based on clear criteria is something Jeddah University applies not only in programme administration but also in its technology decisions. Determined to make an IT investment that would position the University and its students for long-term success, Mutir and his team established a comprehensive set of evaluation benchmarks for the new infrastructure platform. “To empower and protect our students, performance and security were essential, but we were equally focused on reducing our operational overhead so that the IT team could reclaim time to focus on innovation — a principle deeply woven into the fabric of our institution,” he said.
“While Nutanix’s recognition as a leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for seven consecutive years was impressive, it was the overwhelmingly positive feedback from our industry peers in Saudi Arabia that ultimately influenced our decision to move forward,” said Mutir.
From the outset, Nutanix’s solution proved effortless, integrating seamlessly with key applications used by the University — including its Learning Management System, Student Information System, and productivity tools such as Microsoft Office.
Driven by the enhanced stability and performance of the new environment, both student and staff productivity — and critically, their satisfaction — have seen a significant boost. “Because these virtual desktops run on centralised infrastructure, the specifications of end-user devices become less important. Even without high-end hardware, students still enjoy excellent access to academic resources,” Mutir explained.
This access is now also more effectively controlled, as Nutanix allows Mutir and his team to enforce stronger, role-based privileges — ensuring that students, faculty, and staff only have access to the resources they need.
Highlighting how even the University’s most ambitious cost-reduction target of 30% was exceeded, Mutir said, “Managing the Nutanix Cloud Platform is effortless, and we’ve cut operational overheads by at least 45%. Combined with the reduction in hardware costs enabled by Nutanix, we’ve achieved an overall 40% cost reduction.”
As Jeddah University’s world-class facilities and future-focused curriculum continue to attract a growing student body, Nutanix ensures its digital learning offerings remain consistently impressive. “We’re able to support hybrid and remote learning environments without requiring any physical IT expansion. In fact, it typically takes less than three minutes to provision a new VDI machine for a student — ensuring fast, seamless access to academic resources even as we grow rapidly,” said Mutir.
As an institution that prides itself on being one of the most modern in the Kingdom, it’s no surprise that Jeddah University has its gaze firmly set on the next technological horizon. Mutir emphasised that Nutanix will continue to be a trusted partner in realising the University’s forward-looking vision.
“We remain committed to strengthening this partnership, particularly in the adoption of emerging technologies. Currently, we are developing a strategic plan for GenAI and other innovative solutions. Nutanix gives us the confidence to boldly explore new frontiers and help shape the future of higher education in the Kingdom,” he concluded.
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