Case Study: Miami‑Dade County Public Schools achieves improved application performance, scalability, and major cost savings with NetApp

Miami-Dade County Public Schools Optimize Operations and the Learning Experience for 345,000 Students

Miami‑Dade County Public Schools, the fourth‑largest U.S. district, supports 345,000 students, more than 40,000 staff, and roughly 700,000 users across 392 schools. With 280,000 devices and mission‑critical apps (gradebook, SAP ERP, SCCM) accessed 24/7, the district faced recurring slowdowns and I/O bottlenecks—particularly during grade reporting—and needed to modernize infrastructure while working within tight, unpredictable budgets.

The district deployed a NetApp all‑flash solution (NetApp AFF, FAS3020, FlexPod, delivered by UDT), which eliminated I/O issues, restored fast, reliable access, and enabled on‑demand scaling for new apps. The upgrade consolidated nine racks into three, shrank usable storage from 100TB to 13TB via deduplication and compression, saved hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, and let IT support growth and new projects without scrambling for funds.

Miami-Dade County Public Schools

Paul Smith

IT Infrastructure Manager