EMC and Middlesex University Dubai congratulate first class of EMC Academic Alliance graduates

EMC recently announced the first batch of graduating students from the EMC Academic Alliance program with Middlesex University Dubai in the UAE. 45 students successfully completed the University’s Cloud Infrastructure and Services course and are now on their way to achieving advanced certification in Cloud Infrastructure and Services Associate Certification (EMCCIS). 

The first in the series of courses to be offered to students of the University under the EMC Academic Alliance program, ‘Cloud Infrastructure and Services’ is an open course aimed at educating students on the key considerations in migrating business applications and technologies to the cloud, as well as on various IT service models and an in-depth exploration of the benefits of virtualization technology. The course, applicable to all IT professionals, is designed to familiarize students with the knowledge and skill-sets they may need in order to manage rapidly expanding roles in IT organizations that are now responsible for deploying the latest technologies and models to drive operational efficiency and greater business agility. 

Offered to both Undergraduate and Postgraduate IT students at the University’s Dubai Knowledge Village campus since October 2012, the course provided 40 hours of content covering technology essentials in several key areas, including servers, storage, networking, applications, and databases.  The CIS course also takes students through the potential for genuine business impact from investing in these technologies, helping them garner a wider context to technology services in the enterprise. 

The graduating students were honored at an event titled the ‘MDX Cloud Talk’, which brought together students and faculty of the program along with representatives from EMC, to highlight the importance of industry-academia collaboration. The collaboration’s main objective is to supplement higher education IT curricula by providing market-relevant courses that highlight current solutions and best practices while promoting research into the transforming IT landscape. 

Established as part of an agreement between TECOM Investments, a diversified conglomerate and a member of Dubai Holding, and EMC, the EMC Academic Alliance program at Middlesex University aims to contribute to the development of the local information and communications technology (ICT) industry through the creation of a more agile regional skills base. As part of its investment, EMC provided the materials and faculty training on relevant curriculum courses at no cost to the university. 

The EMC Academic Alliance Program is designed to prepare future IT professionals for successful careers in the constantly changing ICT industry. It has educated more than 175,000 students since its inception in 2006 and is active within 1,100+ colleges and universities across 60+ participating countries.

Middlesex University Dubai Quote:

Dr. Fehmida Hussain, Senior Lecturer, School of Science and Technology, Middlesex University Dubai: “Middlesex University Dubai’s academic alliance with EMC is an exemplar of the need for industry- academia collaboration to create the next generation of professionals that will drive tomorrow’s knowledge based economy. The Cloud Infrastructure and Services course was offered to both undergraduate and postgraduate students at the Middlesex University Dubai in October 2012. Today, 45 students have successfully completed this training and are now well on their way to achieving the higher certification. I am honored to have worked with EMC to provide our students the opportunity to keep pace with emerging trends in the ICT industry and look forward to strengthening this alliance and working together to create the best IT professionals for the region and across the globe.” 

EMC Quote: 

Wael El Nadi, Senior Director, Global Services Organization, Turkey, Africa, and Middle East, at EMC:  “We congratulate the first Cloud and Infrastructure Services graduates at Middlesex University Dubai. These 45 students are now equipped with the right skills and capabilities to successfully understand transformational technologies such as virtualization and cloud. We are proud that, through this association with  the EMC Academic Alliance, EMC has become one of the pioneers in offering open, vendor-agnostic cloud and data science training and certifications to address the ever-growing need for skilled ICT professionals. We now look forward to extending our relationship with Middlesex University Dubai by introducing more courses aimed at helping today’s students develop the skills they need to become the next generation of IT leaders.”