McLean, VA - July 8, 2019: eLumin announced today several enhancements to Sandbox and Sandbox Builder designed to provide greater flexibility to leverage the power of these tools. 

Announced last October, Sandbox is designed to deliver an on-demand and secure virtual labs to support hands-on student learning, ideal for simulations and technical programs like cybersecurity, operating systems, programming, big data, and engineer, where students often need access to complex computing environments. Sandbox allows students to do just that, providing access to multiple operating systems and configurations in a defined and secure environment.

Sandbox Builder, announced in March of this year, extends the capabilities of the eLumin Sandbox allowing professors, teaching assistants, and technical staff to build secure, dynamic, and hands-on labs that span operating systems and system configurations. 

Starting today:

• We are unbundling Sandbox and Sandbox Builder from our managed service Classroom Virtual Desktop. If you have an existing AWS WorkSpaces environment or aren't looking for a managed offering, Sandbox and Sandbox Builder are now available as standalone applications that can be installed in your own WorkSpaces environment. A subscription to Sandbox and Sandbox Builder provides full access to the platform, the service catalog of default images, and unlimited use, just BYOW - Bring Your Own WorkSpace. 
  
  
• eLumin is launching Sandbox running in AWS AppStream 2.0, dubbed Sandbox AppStream Edition. Sandbox allows students in technical programs like Cybersecurity, Big Data, and programming to have access to secure and complex virtual labs while keeping an eye on costs and scalability. 

"We are excited to bring Sandbox and Sandbox Builder to more colleges and universities," said Mohammad Haque, Senior Vice President for eLumin. He continued "Leveraging the cost effective AppStream 2.0 platform to access a student sandbox is a great step to allow more students access to industry tools they will need to successful in the pursuit of their degrees." 

You can experience both Sandbox and Sandbox Builder for 14 days, but requesting access to the eLumin platform. We are excited to share what we have been working on.

About eLumin

eLumin was founded on the belief that technology should never stand in the way of student learning. We deliver cloud-based solutions for Desktop as a Service (DaaS) and voice-enabled technologies to increase engagement on campus and support enhance learning outcomes. To learn more about eLumin, please visit elumin.co.

#aws #workspaces #appstream #edtech #cloud #vdi #daas #virtuallabs #labs #campustech #edstart #cybersecurity #bigdata #malware #programming #forensics 

McLean, VA - July 8, 2019: eLumin announced today Student Pay allowing students to pay directly for their cloud resources, including virtual desktops and application services, used in their coursework. Much like a technology or lab fee, students are able to purchase access to the resources they need for a particular course or a number of courses they're enrolled. This payment model makes consistent dynamic learning environments available to all students regardless of their location or device, for the price of a textbook. 

"Rolling out Student Pay is a win for both the student and the university. Student Pay provides universities the gateway for provisioning high-performance technology to their students for a fraction of the cost of building out expensive computer labs or providing students with hardware packages that need consistent updating and maintenance," said Greg M. Smith, eLumin's President. Smith continued, "Our goal is to provide all students with the same level of access to the technology they need to be successful in completing their coursework. No longer will department budget restrictions or individual student financial status determine who has access to robust computing resources. Inclusive in the price of their semester lab fee is everything needed for a student to be successful in the learning."

How it works: When a student accesses their lab resources for the first time, if they haven't paid their lab fee, they will be presented with a form to complete payment, once completed they will get an email indicating that their desktop or applications are ready to use. The students will then have access to these resources for the duration of the provisioned period tied to their course/s. 

Student Pay is just one of several methods available to procure eLumin services like Classroom Virtual Desktop, Sandbox, and Sandbox Builder. Through a partnership with Carahsoft, colleges and universities are able to subscribe to eLumin services and leverage existing contracts like NASPO ValuePoint or state specific contracts like the Illinois Learning Technology Purchase Program. 

In addition, Classroom Virtual Desktop and Open Access Lab products are available for purchase in the AWS Marketplace. This allows colleges and universities that are AWS customers to purchase subscriptions for eLumin's platform easily and quickly.

About eLumin

eLumin was founded on the belief that technology should never stand in the way of student learning. We deliver cloud-based solutions for Desktop as a Service (DaaS) and voice-enabled technologies to increase engagement on campus and support enhance learning outcomes. To learn more about eLumin, please visit elumin.co.

McLean, VA - July 1, 2019: eLumin, an Amazon Web Services Select Consulting partner and member of EdStart, the AWS educational technology (EdTech) startup accelerator, today launched Campus Jump Start. Specifically designed for customers who are interested in using Amazon WorkSpaces and/or AppStream 2.0, but who aren't looking for a managed service offering. 

"Having been a part of the largest AWS Workspaces implementation in education to date, the team has refined every step of the process to ensure a seamless and efficient workflow that removes the heavy lifting of provisioning, systems integrations, building images and scaling from your workforce. Our expertise allows your team to focus your resources in other necessary areas while we execute your migration to the cloud successfully and painlessly" said Greg M. Smith, eLumin's President. 

A dedicated project manager will be assigned to your project and serve as your primary point of contact throughout the project. Designed to be completed in four weeks or less, eLumin's Campus Jump Start for AWS WorkSpaces and AppStream 2.0 is divided into four phases: Requirements, Implementation, Testing and Production. 

• Requirements - During this phase, your dedicated project manager will identify key project participants and gather the key requirements for your implementation. There will be several conversations with eLumin engineers to discuss your scaling requirements, the integration of existing systems (VPN, directory, SSO, etc) and application deployment. 
• Implementation - Once requirements have been finalized, eLumin engineers will get to work building your environment, integrating it into key systems, building core images, and packaging applications. 
• Testing - Completed in two phases, eLumin will first complete internal testing and quality assurance of the environment. Once internal testing is complete, formal user acceptance testing will begin. 
• Production - Once user acceptance testing has been completed, a production go live date will be scheduled and project documentation will be completed. 

Once your project has launched into production, you will have access to eLumin's client success team for 30 days to answer any question and address any technical changes that may need to be made.

Learn more at http://elumin.co/services

About eLumin

eLumin was founded on the belief that technology should never stand in the way of student learning. We deliver cloud-based solutions for Desktop as a Service (DaaS) and voice-enabled technologies to increase engagement on campus and support enhance learning outcomes. To learn more about eLumin, please visit elumin.co.

#aws #workspaces #appstream #edtech #cloud #vdi #daas #virtuallabs #labs #campustech #edstart #cybersecurity #bigdata #malware #programming #forensics 

Let's face it, end-user computing can be complicated. The whole idea of selecting and deploying hardware every year, procuring the equipment, developing and managing images, managing the assets, and then providing technical support for the next three to four years on that device is daunting. There is an easier way, a modern approach to end-user computing, but as with all things technology it comes with its own language and set of acronyms. eLumin is dedicated to making technology easy so that educators can focus on the learning rather than the tech support. In that light, let's break down the alphabet soup that is modern end user computing. 

People throw around terms like VDI, DaaS, Thin Client, Zero Client, Web Client, but what does it all mean and how does it make sense in your environment? Let's start with the difference between VDI and DaaS.

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is the legacy approach for desktop virtualization. VDI takes a lot of hardware and complicated software, installs it in your basement data center and provides services to your campus users. The idea of VDI is great, but there are challenges around cost, scalability, and performance. 

Desktop as a Service (DaaS) is a modern and flexible approach for providing virtual desktop environments to your campus. DaaS leverages the power of a public cloud provider, like Amazon Web Services (AWS), allowing you to economically and quickly scale services across your campus freeing up resources and staff to focus on adding value beyond commodity computing services. A real world example of this quick seamless scalability came in a project I was working on to provide virtual desktops inside a classroom environment for a large university. The original scope of the project was to deploy services for 400 students. Two days before go live, I received a request from the academic leadership to instead deploy the platform to over 3,200 students. With DaaS, we were able to scale and deploy on the go live date with no problem.

Now that we have established the flexibility and scalability of DaaS, let's look at how we access the platform. We hear terms thrown around like Thin Client, Zero Client, Web Client, and mobile access, but how do we make sense of it all and what is the best approach for your campus? Thin Clients allow you to repurpose the existing hardware you have in computer labs and across campus, increasing their usable life and allowing you to better leverage that capital investment. eLumin provides the glue to bring all of this together and provides the flexibility to mix and match the right connection methods for your needs. 

Zero Client devices are firmware based terminals with a singular purpose of connecting you to your virtualized desktop environment. You can leverage your existing Zero Client investment with the more modern DaaS approach with a few technical caveats, you must be using a Zero Client that supports the Teradici PCoIP (ideally version 6.x or higher). 

Thin Clients are very lightweight devices that run on highly optimized versions of secured operating systems and provide a more modern approach. For example, IGEL OS, is a next generation operating system specifically designed to convert any device to connect to your DaaS deployment. For those who don't have existing hardware to convert, IGEL also has a series of endpoints running IGEL OS, including a unique offering called UD Pocket - a thin client on a USB key. IGEL's Universal Management Suite allows thin clients to be easily managed and the configurations centrally deployed so that you never have to touch an endpoint again. 

Additional Clients can be used to interact with the Amazon Web Services DaaS offering called WorkSpaces. Not only does WorkSpaces support modern Thin Clients (like the IGEL series) and Zero Clients, but it also supports a web client and several installable clients on macOS, iPad, Windows, Android, Fire Tablet, and Chromebooks. This diversity of clients allows your students, faculty, and staff to access the services they need, when, where, and how they want to work. 

Now that you understand the differences between legacy VDI and the modern scalable approach of DaaS, and have an introduction to the power of IGEL OS and Endpoints, we would like to invite you to join us on June 4, 2019 at 2pm EDT for a co-hosted Webinar with AWS, IGEL, and eLumin. We will be talking about modern end user computing and how eLumin brings the powers of AWS and IGEL together to provide a seamless experience for your students, faculty, and staff. 

About Amazon Web Services

In 2006, Amazon Web Services (AWS) began offering IT infrastructure services to businesses in the form of web services -- now commonly known as cloud computing. One of the key benefits of cloud computing is the opportunity to replace up-front capital infrastructure expenses with low variable costs that scale with your business. With the Cloud, businesses no longer need to plan for and procure servers and other IT infrastructure weeks or months in advance. Instead, they can instantly spin up hundreds or thousands of servers in minutes and deliver results faster.

About IGEL
IGEL is the world leader in providing software-defined endpoint optimization and control solutions for cloud and virtualized workspaces. The company’s world-leading software products include IGEL OS™, IGEL UD Pocket™ (UDP) and Universal Management Suite™ (UMS). These solutions comprise a more secure, manageable and cost-effective endpoint management and control platform across nearly any x86 device. Easily acquired via just two feature-rich software offerings, — Workspace Edition and Enterprise Management Pack — IGEL software presents outstanding value per investment.

About eLumin

eLumin was founded on the belief that technology should never stand in the way of student learning. We deliver cloud-based solutions for Desktop as a Service (DaaS) and voice-enabled technologies to increase engagement on campus and support enhance learning outcomes. To learn more about eLumin, please visit elumin.co.

McLean, VA - March 18, 2019: Announcing Sandbox Builder, the next evolution in delivering hands-on learning environments that allow students to learn real-world applications and configurations in a safe and secure way. In combination with eLumin's Sandbox, the Sandbox Builder gives instructors, teaching assistances and technical staff the ability to point, click, and deploy multiple operating systems, configurations, and install software to support programs like Cybersecurity, Operating Systems, Malware Analysis, Digital Forensics,  Programming, Big Data and others. 

Key features of the Sandbox Builder include:

• Provision access for students to Classroom Virtual Desktop and Sandbox environments
• Select from a pre-defined service catalog of operating systems including
  • Windows Server 2012/2016/2019
  • CentOS
  • Ubuntu
  • Kali Linux
• Role based access to support Instructors, Teaching Assistants and Site Administrators.
• Approval workflow to ensure cost and integrity of the student experience.
• Create secure environments to mirror real-world scenario learning
• Deploy labs to a single class or multiple classes with the click of a button.
• Develop a catalog of labs for use across campus.
• Effectively manage costs with built-in monitoring and thresholds.
• Fully managed/supported environment.

"Sandbox Builder is a big step forward for the eLumin platform" said Mohammad A. Haque, Senior Vice President. Haque continued "putting the ability to create labs and exercises in the hands of faculty and staff allows instructors to pull in current events into the classroom, the latest cyber hack or malware story from the weekend can be a hands-on immersive learning experience for students on the following Monday." 

Sandbox Builder is available now. If you could like to see Sandbox Builder in action and better understand how the eLumin platform can help your students learn someone from our team would love to speak with you and can be reach at 1.844.4.eLumin (358646) or you request a Product Overview.

About eLumin

eLumin was founded on the belief that technology should never stand in the way of student learning. We deliver cloud-based solutions for Desktop as a Service (DaaS) and voice-enabled technologies to increase engagement on campus and support enhance learning outcomes. To learn more about eLumin, please visit elumin.co.

#aws #workspaces #appstream #edtech #cloud #vdi #daas #virtuallabs #labs #campustech #edstart #cybersecurity #bigdata #malware #programming #forensics 

McLean, VA - February 1, 2019: eLumin welcomes Deanna Mayer, who joins the team as a Program Manager supporting implementations of Classroom Virtual Desktop and Open Access Labs. Deanna holds dual Master's degrees from the University of Maryland University College (UMUC) in Information Technology Management and Business Administration. and was certified as a PMP in 2017. Deanna has spent the last seven years working with UMUC and AccelerEd delivering cloud-enabled technologies to support learning. Prior to that she was working in operations and cryptography.

"I've had the privilege to work with Deanna for many years, she has been a trusted resource who lives by our core value" said Greg M. Smith, President. "Her hyper-focus on customer needs is evident in each interaction. Deanna is a fantastic addition to the eLumin team."

"I've had some really great opportunities throughout my career" said Deanna when asked why she accepted a position with eLumin? "Being involved in meaningful projects is one part of it, but I am really excited to be on the team because of the company mission and the impact we will have on our students."

About eLumin

eLumin was founded on the belief that technology should never stand in the way of student learning. We deliver cloud-based solutions for Desktop as a Service (DaaS) and voice enabled technologies to increase engagement on campus and support enhance learning outcomes. To learn more about eLumin, please visit elumin.co.

#aws #workspaces #appstream #edtech #cloud #vdi #daas #virtuallabs #labs #campustech #edstart #apn #highered

McLean, VA - January 21, 2019: eLumin is pleased to announce that Steve Schrock has joined the team to support our customers and students using the platform. Steve is a graduate from Goshen College and holds a Masters in Science from the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. He has spent his entire career in education beginning at the Scottsdale Unified School District as the lead technician responsible for solving problems for the administration, teachers, and students across Scottsdale. He later joined the W.P. Carey School of Business as a Cloud Engineer and holds a certification as a Solutions Architect - Associate from AWS. 

"I'm excited to have Steve as a part of the team" said Greg M. Smith, President. "It is very easy to see Steve's commitment to making learning easier for students. He will be critical in to the support of our customers and students."

"I've had really great opportunities in my career to work in K12 and higher education," said Steve Schrock when asked about joining eLumin "this role is the perfect combination of supporting students with the power of cloud computing. I'm excited to work with the rest of the eLumin team."

About eLumin

eLumin was founded on the belief that technology should never stand in the way of student learning. We deliver cloud-based solutions for Desktop as a Service (DaaS) and voice enabled technologies to increase engagement on campus and support enhance learning outcomes. To learn more about eLumin, please visit elumin.co.

#aws #workspaces #appstream #edtech #cloud #vdi #daas #virtuallabs #labs #campustech #edstart #apn #highered

McLean, VA - January 2, 2019: eLumin continues to grow and is excited to announce Sajjad Ibrahim has joined the team as a senior member of the engineering team. Sajjad brings over 15 years of engineering experience, most recently working in higher education. Sajjad attended Rochester Institute of Technology. He began his career at DC Water and Sewer Authority (now DC Water) where he optimized and developed business processes to support enterprise software and hardware implementations. Sajjad ended his tenure at DC Water leading the Microsoft and cloud service teams before joining the University of Maryland University College to support a large scale cloud-based virtual desktop rollout supporting learners around the global, he continued that work at AccelerEd.

"Having had the opportunity to work with Sajjad in the past, I am incredibly excited to have him as a part of our team," said Mohammad A. Haque, Senior Vice President. Haque continues, "Sajjad embodies eLumin's core values of creativity, honesty, integrity and transparency and is an incredibly technologist with a client focus."

When asked why he joined eLumin, Sajjad responded "I'm excited about what eLumin is doing, what I can bring to the table, the product road map and the rest of the team. We are going to change the way colleges and universities think about how they provide access to computing resources for their students."

About eLumin

eLumin was founded on the belief that technology should never stand in the way of student learning. We deliver cloud-based solutions for Desktop as a Service (DaaS) and voice enabled technologies to increase engagement on campus and support enhance learning outcomes. To learn more about eLumin, please visit elumin.co.

#aws #workspaces #appstream #edtech #cloud #vdi #daas #virtuallabs #labs #campustech #edstart #apn #highered

McLean, VA - December 17, 2018: eLumin is pleased to announce it has reached the next milestone in its relationship with Amazon Web Services. In addition to being members of AWS EdStart, the AWS educational technology (EdTech) startup accelerator, eLumin is now an AWS Standard Consulting partner. Earning this designation was a direct result of the eLumin's demonstrated success for delivering cloud-based solutions to support learning at colleges and universities across the country.

"We have had a long standing deep relationship with AWS, the people, and the services," said Mohammad A. Haque, Senior Vice President, "achieving this next level in our partner standing will only enhance that relationship and benefit the students who use our platform."

eLumin recently announced three products built on AWS to enhance learning and level the technology playing field for students in college. You can read more about in the product announcement and the impact they are having on students by visiting our website.

About eLumin

eLumin was founded on the belief that technology should never stand in the way of student learning. We deliver cloud-based solutions for Desktop as a Service (DaaS) and voice enabled technologies to increase engagement on campus and support enhance learning outcomes. To learn more about eLumin, please visit elumin.co.

#aws #workspaces #appstream #edtech #cloud #vdi #daas #virtuallabs #labs #campustech #edstart #apn #highered

McLean, VA - October 29, 2018: eLumin is pleased to announce that starting in November 2018, the eLumin Classroom Virtual Desktop and Open Access Lab products will be available for purchase in the AWS MarketPlace. This allows colleges and universities that are AWS customers to purchase subscriptions for eLumin's platform more easily and quickly.

Created with the specific needs of education in mind, the Classroom Virtual Desktops and Open Access Lab products allow schools to deliver a full virtual desktop experience to students, faculty, and staff to support all aspects of academic life.

Open Access Labs - Pooled and non-persistent environment

• Ideal replacement for expensive physical computer labs across campus.
• Access from anywhere, almost any device with an Internet connection.
• Leverage existing SSO/SAML authentication services.
• Entirely web-based, nothing to install.
• Accessible from macOS, Windows, Linux, and ChromeOS clients.
• Available in Windows 7 or Windows 10.
• Leverage existing licensing if available.
• Define a burst capacity to meet the needs of your peak periods of usage.
• Software delivery based on end-user characteristics (major, course, class section, etc).
• Support for IP/Cloud printing.
• Access to campus resources (ie: license server, etc) as necessary.
• Fully managed/supported environment.

Classroom Virtual Desktops - Dedicated and persistent environment

• Provide access to the latest real-world software and environments to students in the classroom.

• Persistent virtual desktop follows a student through a course, program, or lifetime at the school - defined by business rules.

• Entirely web-based, nothing to install

• Accessible from macOS, Windows, Linux, and ChromeOS clients.

• Available in Windows 7 or Windows 10.

• Leverage existing licensing if available.

• Software delivery based on end-user characteristics (major, course, class section, etc).

• Introduce complex hands-on learning through a secure sandbox.

• Support for IP/Cloud printing.

• Access to campus resources (ie: license server, etc) as necessary.

• Fully managed/supported environment.

Do you have more questions? Please schedule a session with our team to discuss how eLumin can meet the needs of your campus.

About eLumin

eLumin was founded on the belief that technology should never stand in the way of student learning. We deliver cloud-based solutions for Desktop as a Service (DaaS) and voice enabled technologies to increase engagement on campus and support enhance learning outcomes. To learn more about eLumin, please visit elumin.co.

#edu18 #aws #workspaces #appstream #edtech #cloud #vdi #daas #virtuallabs #labs #campustech #edstart #awsmarketplace