Three ways cloud technology is reshaping higher education

Much of the discussion around the EDUCAUSE 2022 Annual Conference centers on taking fuller advantage of innovations spurred by cloud technology. More colleges and universities are plugging into the power of the cloud, embracing solutions like Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and virtual classrooms in order to satisfy student expectations, deepen learning opportunities and conserve capital without reducing the quality of the education provided.

The shift to the cloud is undeniable. According to global advisor Astute Analytica, investment in cloud solutions by higher education hit $2.7 billion in 2021 and is expected to climb past $15 billion by 2030. But careful planning is needed if institutions of higher education are to transition smoothly and with minimal structural unease for themselves, faculties and students.

How should institutions approach the shift? To start, focus transition planning around three basic but critical areas of concern: Scalability, security and student experience.

Scalability: Designing a space without limits

One of the most immediate advantages offered by cloud technology is the ability to ramp up an institution’s activities and capacity regardless of the physical space or location it occupies. Are you ready for the challenges and opportunities available at a campus where learning spaces are as limitless as your imagination?

• Manage expectations: Careful planning and robust communication are central to realizing the promise of the cloud in higher education. Recognize faculty and administration roles in aligning a growth path in harmony with the institution’s values and objectives, while understanding which needs drive students most.
• Expand on demand: More higher-education institutions are discovering the remote learning opportunities they needed to offer in 2020 and 2021 are now optimal ways of expanding their pool of students, particularly among adult learners as well as those in remote and/or rural locations. 
• Achieve efficiencies where available: The ability to access vast data centers without apportioning physical space or building costs is of tremendous value to a college or university. So are a multitude of other cloud-based opportunities which should be in the sights of institutional planners.

Security: Opening doors without sacrificing cyber safety

A critical factor in any migration to the cloud is protecting against data breaches and other cybercriminal activity, a concern that must be top of mind for college and university administrators as this activity grows in both frequency and intensity. 

• Know the risks: Colleges and universities are reservoirs of personal identifiable information (PII). These need to be protected aggressively. Consider carefully the managed security services and managed networks you use, and how cloud protocols can best protect PII entrusted with you.
• Be on guard: Ransomware attacks have become particularly severe at educational institutions since 2020. A recent survey shows 64 percent of IT professionals at 410 institutions of higher learning reported experiencing a ransomware attack in 2021 alone. Many of these could have been averted with such simple precautions as establishing basic phishing-sensitive user protocols and discouraging password-sharing among users.
• Blind trust is bad: Multi-layer security, enabled by Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) as well as firewalls and perimeters, allows IT teams to manage security without compromising remote and hybrid learning. Make sure your IT leadership and staff are actively managing your cloud platform in a way that is both protective and proactive.

Student experience: Unleashing tomorrow’s potential today

At the core of cloud uptake in colleges and universities has been its powerful effect on student learning. Remote learning went from novelty to survival strategy in 2020-2021, and remains essential in meeting the expectations of a new generation of learners. Cloud technology provides many ways of enhancing and broadening opportunities in higher education.

• Embrace immersion: Cloud platforms enable immersive learning environments, with robust engagement and collaboration tools. Constraints of location and time are removed from the education equation and accessibility blossoms when cloud channels are augmented by efficient UI and user-friendly apps. 
• Achieve greater fluidity: Data analytics tools, AI and virtual agents transform the cloud into repositories of information for the most-asked questions by students, reducing the need to interact with faculty. According to Google Cloud, “[t]here’s another real benefit these tools can provide: the ability for students to get information at any time.”
• Think mobile: Cloud services can be enormous convenience boosts, equipping any laptop into a classroom and library for students and faculty members alike. Cloud services can be designed to serve mobile devices, increasingly a tool of learning for many college students. 

Your future is unlimited (depending on bandwidth) 

Excitement around the cloud has been with us for close to a decade and shows no sign of abating. Much of this is around the cloud’s potential for cost-cutting, but an innovation focus is needed in order not to miss out on richer opportunities.

To this end, some questions need to be asked, and answered: 

• Is my institution making the most of educational opportunities that currently exist outside of a brick-and-mortar environment?
• How could connectivity services like Cloud Connect allow my students to more easily and safely experience the educational opportunities my institution offers? 
• Do my students have the right hardware, or can that be supplied at a reasonable cost? Institutions can bridge the connectivity challenge by putting the right network systems in place, such as Managed Network Edge or Enterprise Network Edge.
• And perhaps most important: how can I best focus my IT budget in the next few years to facilitate a cloud transformation?

Learn more about the Spectrum Enterprise portfolio of services for higher education, including networking and managed services designed to work with the cloud. Visit us at EDUCAUSE 2022 and experience our demos at Booth 115 (just right of the entrance) at the Denver Convention Center on October 26-27.