BitLeap

BitLeap Backs Up Data from Schools to Intermediate Unit IV

Oct. 3, 2006 12:04am

The Midwestern Intermediate Unit IV (MIU-4), an educational servicing agency for 27 school districts in Western PA, has signed a multi-year deal with BitLeap to provide advanced data backup services to school districts in their region. Under the deal, both the MIU-4’s member school districts and schools from other participating Intermediate Units and organizations will be able to take advantage of the Intermediate Unit’s investment in a private data storage center to provide advanced backup services using Bitleap’s technology at a reduced cost.

BitLeap has a similar agreement in place with the Capital Area Intermediate Unit (CAIU-15) to jointly provide advanced data backup services for school districts in Central Pennsylvania. BitLeap and CAIU-15 are currently providing dedicated data backup services to several midstate school districts including Big Spring, Cumberland Valley, Johnsonburg Area, Mechanicsburg, Philipsburg-Osceola Area, Shippensburg Area, South Middleton, Upper Dauphin Area, West Perry and West Shore, as well as a local parochial and technical school.

The addition of the MIU-4 facility in Grove City, Pennsylvania along with the existing CAIU-15 facility creates two strategically placed educational data storage centers in Pennsylvania that schools can choose to have as their primary offsite data backup location.

According to BitLeap’s CEO, Guy Suter:

“The data backup setup at the Midwestern Intermediate Unit will include a combination of data storage devices owned by the Intermediate Unit and remote data storage devices owned and operated by BitLeap. The data storage capabilities of the Midwestern Intermediate Unit facility has been initially setup to manage up to 10 terabytes of current and historical data using BitLeap’s efficient backup technology. The system has been designed to grow as the participating schools’ backup needs grow by simply adding more capacity.”

Titusville Area School District was the first Western Pennsylvania district to implement BitLeap’s data backup solution even before the MIU-4 storage facility had been installed. Since the facility’s setup, an additional four districts have already signed on with several more expressing their immediate interest in the technology. Mr. Suter commented on the quick response from these districts:

“There is certainly an existing demand in our schools for a more reliable and cost effective method for data backup. We are pleased to be able to partner with Pennsylvania’s Intermediate Units to provide an advanced data backup solution that saves time and provides increased value for the busy IT staffs in our schools.”

Scott Powner, the Midwestern Intermediate Unit’s Director of Management/Technology, worked with BitLeap’s staff on the agreement details and the technical implementation plans. According to Mr. Powner:

“BitLeap’s data backup technology will bring cutting edge backup capabilities to our schools. The Midwestern Intermediate Unit’s agreement with BitLeap and their addition as a vendor on the Smart Contract will create easy access to this technology for schools as well as an attractive backup location for this region.”

BitLeap has also signed a support contract with Prismworks Technologies, a leading provider of IT integration support to Pennsylvania’s education industry. Under this agreement, Prismworks Technologies will offer specialized consultation and backup auditing services directly related to BitLeap’s data backup service to participating school districts.

Quotes from Select School Districts

“Cost Effective, Easy to use, Great Tech Support, NO Maintenance, Retrieve files from anywhere, We LOVE it.”

Eric Frank
IT Director
Glendale School District

“Bitleap’s backup services give me peace of mind knowing that my data is secure.”

Dennis Royer
IT Director
South Middleton School District

“Previously, backups have been the most costly, resource intense process that if done poorly, could lose you your job. With BitLeap, we have been able to spread our cost across multiple years, provide the frequency of backups required for extremely important material, and eliminate the cost of backup tapes and equipment that need periodically replaced. Bitleap has been a “god send” for us.”

Bryan S. Campbell Director of Technology Upper Dauphin Area School District

“It is far easier to manage our complex backup requirements with BitLeap’s system than our old tape-based backup.”

Brian Schmick
Director of Technology
Cumberland Valley School District

About Bitleap

BitLeap’s innovative backup solution was released in 2004. This solution allows businesses of any size to implement automatic offsite data backups with ease. Today, Bitleap continues to redefine the industry with a managed server line called LeapServ, which administers the bandwidth-efficient backup service and controls virtual private network connections. For more information about BitLeap, please visit http://www.bitleap.com.

Press Contacts

Guy Suter
BitLeap, LLC
(866) 363-0668
marketing@bitleap.com

Scott Powner
Midwestern Intermediate Unit IV
(724) 458-6700
scott_powner@miu4.k12.pa.us