| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Computer software Digital distribution IT consulting Online advertising |
| Founder(s) | Ram Raju |
| Headquarters | 987 Wellington, Ottawa, Canada |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Website | www.e-academy.com |
e-academy Inc. is a software distribution company that specializes in hosted electronic software delivery. Through its web-based solutions, the company offers a platform for institutions to distribute software according to their requirements.[1] e-academy has partnerships with many software publishers including Microsoft, Adobe, VMware, National Instruments, and Parallels.[2]
As a result of these solutions and relationships, e-academy Inc. offers free and academic-priced software through a network of online school WebStores that serve thousands of educational institutions worldwide (as of 2011 – over 30,000 academic institutions use e-academy’s technology solutions).[3] The company also manages worldwide academic software licensing programs, such as the MSDNAA (Microsoft Developers Network Academic Alliance) and the VMAP (VMware Academic Program).[4] e-academy is also a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner.[5]
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e-academy Inc. was founded in 1997 by its CEO Ram Raju, as Powerknowledge. The company made efforts at e-commerce and software verification through physical media. The transition to digital download internet sales occurred in 1998 and 1999 with the creation of ELMS.
Prior to founding e-academy, Raju operated a campus-wide software deployment and licensing department in addition to a retail software and hardware store at Dalhousie University.[6][7] e-academy was founded based on his idea that software is integral to education, and that more affordable and accessible academic software can reduce the the barrier between publishers and the academic curriculum.
ELMS is a web-based, turn-key software distribution and management application used for authenticating users based on institutional eligibility criteria and the systematization of order distribution according to policy requirements. e-academy Inc. uses this solution as a means of management and secure software delivery.[8]
The OnTheHub network, powered by e-academy Inc., helps academic users find software savings provided to them through the partnership of individual schools, software publishers, resellers and e-academy. The OnTheHub website is the central portal of all networked sites and is divided into two sections;“Essentials” and “Curriculum Software”. The “Essentials” page is a directory of institution-based WebStores available to those who attend or work at that institution. The “Curriculum Software” section includes the OnTheHub electronic store (eStore), available to all verifiable students, faculty and staff worldwide. The Global eStore fully supports electronic software distribution, multiple currencies and languages, as well as 6 and 12-month rentals and other unique offerings.[9][10]
Since 2001, e-academy Inc. has managed the Microsoft Developers Network Academic Alliance (MSDNAA) program for the majority of departments currently enrolled in the program. e-academy Inc. allows School MSDNAA Program Administrators to use it’s e-academy License Management System or ELMS for the distribution of Microsoft software to MSDNAA members for free. This system controls and administrates many areas of the program such as user registration, support and secure software delivery.[11]
The VMware Academic Program (VMAP) is an academic program that provides students, teachers, and staff with free academic-use copies of VMware virtualization software, with titles including: VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation, VMware ESX vSphere Advanced, vCenter Server Standard, vCenter Server Lab Manager, VMware Player. The VMware Academic Program is made available to STEM (Science Technology, Engineering, Math) departments of diploma granting institutions.[12]
e-academy Inc. deploys custom-branded WebStores for instutitions enrolled in the Microsoft Student Option and Microsoft Student Select Programs at no cost. These WebStores provide product hosting, administrative automation, user verification, secure downloads as well as physical media sales.