Building a Magnet for Global Talent and Ideas
Saïd Business School, part of the University of Oxford, stands among the world’s top business schools, serving a vibrant community of 1,200 on-site students, nearly 950 staff, faculty and researchers, and a thriving online community and network of over 50,000 learners. With 97% of its on-site students coming from 67 countries, and a commitment to sustainability and innovation, Saïd is more than an academic institution—it’s a hub for global leaders and ideas.
But as the School’s reputation and campus footprint grew, so did the complexity of its technology infrastructure. The challenge: create an intuitive, reliable, and future-ready collaboration environment to match their world-class ambitions.
The Challenge: From Patchwork Complexity to Seamless Simplicity
Like many institutions, Saïd Business School’s rapid expansion led to a blend of legacy systems and devices from multiple vendors—each meeting room had its own quirks. Faculty and students faced confusing setups, cables everywhere, and frequent interoperability issues between Teams, Zoom, Webex, and Google.
We had hybrid meeting solutions in all our teaching spaces, but the setups weren’t intuitive. People struggled to connect, and when something didn’t work, the whole room looked at me to fix it.”
— Mark Bramwell, CDIO, Saïd Business School
The lack of standardization resulted in frequent support requests. Audio-visual engineers were tasked with daily patrols of meeting rooms, troubleshooting issues that often stemmed from user confusion rather than hardware failure.
According to Mark, “Meetings would often start 5 or 10 minutes late because people couldn’t connect or get their laptops to display on the screen. Multiply that across hundreds of meetings, and it’s a huge productivity drain.” Meanwhile, Saïd’s executive education contracts with multinational clients required commercial-grade reliability and uptime. Failure to deliver could mean violating SLAs with major organizations and governments.
The Solution: Standardizing on Cisco for a Consistent, Scalable Experience
To overcome its technology challenges, Saïd Business School embarked on a comprehensive campus-wide standardization, deploying Cisco Devices throughout more than 100 spaces—from lecture theaters to meeting rooms. By implementing Cisco Room Bar Pro devices and smart infrastructure, the school created a unified experience where any student or staff member can walk into any room and start a meeting at the touch of a button, eliminating guesswork and cable confusion.
The solution also provides seamless interoperability, supporting Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Webex, and Google meetings to accommodate the school’s diverse and global community. All devices are managed and monitored via the cloud, aligning with Saïd’s vision for a smart, responsive campus environment.
Reflecting on the transition, Mark Bramwell shares, “Cisco technology has never let me down. As a 24/7 organization, we needed reliability, accessibility, connectivity, and security—and Cisco delivered on all fronts.”
AI and Smart Campus Capabilities
Saïd Business School is taking full advantage of Cisco’s AI-powered features to elevate both meeting quality and campus management. With intelligent noise reduction, automatic camera framing, and speaker tracking, hybrid meetings feel seamless and engaging for everyone involved. The school also integrates sensor data from Cisco devices with third-party analytics platforms, such as Smartvise, to optimize space utilization, monitor occupancy, and advance its ambitious sustainability initiatives.
Looking ahead, Saïd plans to further embed Cisco Spaces for wayfinding and digital signage, as well as implement advanced environmental monitoring throughout the upcoming Global Leadership Centre.
As Mark notes, “We’re excited about Cisco’s smart building technology. Everything from core network infrastructure to environmental sensors is part of our next-gen, digitally enabled £65 million Global Leadership Centre.”
Results: Dramatic Improvements in User Experience and Productivity
The results of Saïd Business School’s technology transformation have been remarkable. Since standardizing on Cisco, the school has seen a dramatic 97% reduction in support tickets related to meeting room connectivity and setup. Meetings now start promptly, eliminating frustrating delays and lost productivity caused by technical confusion.
No matter which building they’re in, users benefit from a consistent, intuitive experience—making it easier for students, faculty, and staff to focus on what matters most. Additionally, real-time room usage data has enabled the school to allocate resources more effectively, ensuring that the busiest spaces receive the support they require.
As Mark Bramwell puts it, “It just works. I’d love to make it sound more glamorous, but the reality is it’s reliable and simple—and that’s what matters most.”
Looking Ahead: A Vision for the Smart, Sustainable Campus
Saïd Business School’s journey with Cisco is just beginning. With aggressive net-zero sustainability targets for 2035, the School is prioritizing partners who share its vision for environmental responsibility and continuous innovation.
The new Global Leadership Centre, opening in 2026, will showcase the latest in Cisco smart campus technology—setting a benchmark for business schools worldwide.
“We always want to be ahead—always seeking out what’s new from Cisco and integrating it into our campus. We want Saïd to be a magnet for students and leaders from around the world, on-site and online.”
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