VMware Horizon View Now Qualified with Pearson TestNav Online Test Delivery System Virtual Desktops Offer Ease of Deployment with Added Security and Integrity to the Administration of Online Tests in K-12 schools for Next-generation Assessments PALO ALTO, Calif., May 22, 2013 VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW), the global leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure, today announced that VMware Horizon View has been qualified to support the industry-leading TestNav online test delivery system from Pearson. TestNav delivers more than 9 million tests annually and VMware virtual desktops can now help K-12 schools achieve critical security and testing standards when delivering high-stakes, online assessments via TestNav.VMware shares a common goal with students, teachers and parents in the desire to see students grow in preparation for college and succeed as part of the modern workforce, said Erik Frieberg, vice president, product marketing, End-User Computing, VMware. Online testing using virtual desktops is a great fit for educational institutions as part of that journey because of the simplified management and administrative cost savings enjoyed by schools that also offers a user-friendly delivery platform that is preferred by students.
Forty-five U.S. states, the District of Columbia, four U.S. territories and the U.S. Department of Defense Education Activity have adopted the Common Core State Standards to develop new online standardized tests that will be used in the 2014-2015 school year. Pearson is the leader in online assessment and test delivery with more than 10 state and national assessment programs already selecting Pearson TestNav as their solution of choice for online testing. Horizon View with Pearson TestNav combines state-of-the-art technologies from two industry leaders to meet next-generation testing requirements, delivering large-scale online tests to distributed desktops in a cost-effective manner without disrupting existing IT infrastructure.
Because some of our schools did not have enough PCs in the classroom, we had to image PCs in the computer lab to administer online tests, which meant losing them for regular instruction until the testing period was over, said John Orbaugh, director, technology services, Tyler Independent School District. Using VMware Horizon View with Pearson TestNav enables schools to deliver online tests on virtual desktops, which can eliminate the need to take down PCs for testing. Students and teachers do not lose valuable instruction time as normal use of the computer is simply a matter of selecting the base student image at login.
VMware Horizon View has been implemented in educational institutions ranging from K-12 to post-graduate schools worldwide. IT departments choose VMware Horizon View because it reduces the time and resources required to deploy and manage distributed desktop environments, and it gives students better access to coursework with less downtime and a consistent experience across devices and locations. By leveraging thin or zero clients, IT administrators can also extend the life of their desktop hardware, reduce energy consumption and cut overall operating costs.
As districts face the prospect of preparing their technology for delivering not just instructional content but also a new generation of high-stakes, online assessments, it's especially important to choose solutions that meet the needs of security and scalable performance, said Bryan Bleil, vice president, Online & Technology Implementation, Pearson. Pearson welcomes VMware Horizon View into the TestNav Qualified program as a technology that can reliably and securely enable high-volume testing within school districts.
Moving Desktops to the Cloud
As part of the VMware Horizon Suite , Horizon View transforms traditional physical PCs into centrally managed IT services and delivers elastic desktop services as a virtual workspace for ultimate control and flexibility for user experience, administration and service. IT gains greater control in conjunction with the flexibility to embrace new technologies and simplify management of the end-user environment, while still being able to access desktop services from every device while in the office, remote and on the road.
Built on VMware vSphere , the industry's most widely deployed virtualization platform, Horizon View enables the industry's best end-user experience while simplifying IT management for large-scale deployments and reducing the total cost of ownership (TCO) associated with VDI.
Additional Resources
Learn more about the use of VMware with TestNav, and the TestNav Qualified program
Learn more about VMware solutions and services for education
Learn more about VMware Horizon View
Read the VMware End-User Computing blog for the latest information on the entire VMware Horizon Suite
Follow the VMware End-User Computing team on Twitter and Facebook
About VMware
VMware is the leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure solutions that enable businesses to thrive in the Cloud Era. Customers rely on VMware to help them transform the way they build, deliver and consume Information Technology resources in a manner that is evolutionary and based on their specific needs. With 2012 revenues of $4.61 billion, VMware has more than 500,000 customers and 55,000 partners. The company is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the world and can be found online at www.vmware.com.
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