ADMINISTRATION


Reproduced with permission from NeXT Computer, Inc.
A Reference Guide to NeXT in Higher Education, Fall 1992
ª 1992 NeXT Computer, Inc

Easy to use or powerful enough for technical work and application development?

For university administrators who find themselves in a perennial search for a machine with this kind of versatility, the quest is over. Unlike most computer platforms today, the NeXT platform can't be pigeonholed into one type of computer for one type of application. With its workstation performance, object-oriented programming capabilities, and personal computer accessibility and price, NeXT is quickly becoming the platform of choice for university administrators who require a flexible computer system for both their technical staffs and the end users for whom the custom applications are written. NeXT for bookkeeping, grant management, financial analysis, personnel administration, application development, and many other administrative tasks-now on hundreds of campuses in North America.

For instance, when administrators in the Biological Sciences Division of the University of Chicago began the search for a new desktop computing system, they "were looking specifically for a platform that could combine the development and delivery of custom applications with the functions of traditional office automation," according to Monty Mullig, director for information systems. "NeXT computers were the only ones that could do both to our satisfaction."

Using NeXT's newly created Database Kitî, administrators like Mullig are finding they can radically shorten the time required to design and implement database applications that have graphical user interfaces. In addition, NeXT's third-party back-end database servers like ORACLEí and SYBASEí provide powerful solutions for single and multiuser database needs. (For more information, call 1-800-879-NeXT and request the "DBKit White Paper.")

Other examples of NeXT for administration range from college presidents' desks to the National Science Foundation now accepting grant proposals in PostScriptí format via NeXTmailî.