Fairfield University: A Customer Success Story

When Scott Brenner was exploring his options when searching for a cloud provider, he realized his options were limited. Brenner is an instructor at Fairfield University in Fairfield Connecticut teaching a Sage 50 course. His cloud needed multiple desktop users accounts set up on Sage 50, all while being scalable because of a varying size of user accounts (depending on the total number of students enrolled in his course every quarter).

While other cloud providers disregarded Brenner’s specialized needs for a cloud solution, Summit’s customized cloud services delivered just what he needed. He realized he could reach his full potential teaching his Sage 50 course with Summit’s customized cloud. 

How Fairfield University Uses Summit

Brenner uses Summit in his lab environment to allow all the students in his classroom to use Sage at the same time while following along with the lecture. The students can also log into their Summit account at home to complete their homework assignments while using Sage 50. “The idea behind using Summit is that I teach an accounting system, Sage 50, to teach accounting students how accounting is done in the real world,” Brenner said. “Summit works because we’re accommodating students with different operating systems; some students have Macs and some have PCs. They all get a virtual desktop so they get on it and do their thing.”

Summit’s team of engineers designed a special file structure to keep all the student’s work separate while giving Brenner the ability to login from home and grade their work. “When they do their homework I can just get on their accounts and access their data from my login and grade their homework on Summit,” he said. “I no longer have an inbox full of emailed assignments.”

Brenner currently has 17 student accounts with Summit and plans to scale to 40 accounts in the fall. “It’s allowing the student to do their homework whenever and wherever, whereas before they had to go to a computer lab on campus.” 

Building a Customized Solution

Summit’s teams listened to what Brenner needed and worked closely to with him to create a perfect solution.

“When I called Summit, I got Jacob and he was the bomb and just amazing,” he explained. “Jacob listened and understood and was intrigued. When I spoke to other places, the prices weren’t even close, and they couldn’t work with me. Jacob and Sean have both helped me so much and have been amazing. I feel like I’ve known them a while now.”

Working with Summit’s engineering team, Brenner implemented a solution that helped he and his students to be more efficient.

“I always thought there was something out there to work with me, and it was Summit,” Brenner said. “The other providers gave me a quote with a fee for everything just to get setup. But every step of the way Summit knew my price point and said ‘We’re keeping it there.’ They worked with me.”

Experience the Difference with Summit

To learn more about how Summit can help secure the way you work by deploying your customized applications in the cloud, please contact our team today.