Cloud migration in education: benefits and challenges

More and more schools, colleges and universities are migrating to the cloud. Learn about the challenges and benefits of this new way of working.

If you work in education, you're probably already familiar with a range of cloud services – even if you don't call them that.

Got a Gmail account? That's the cloud. Logging into a shared document? Cloud. Zooming a colleague? Well, you get the picture.

Cloud technology is so much more than just an ethereal backup for your gallery of cat pics. Any piece of software or computing function can be accessed from anywhere, on any device. When that's the set-up, it's on the cloud.

Cloud services are untethered from a physical location. Just as you can log into your Netflix account in any location that has an internet signal, so you can access software that's critical to the day-to-day operations of your institution.

In education, more and more institutions are embracing the cloud – from HR software to team comms, from online learning portals to teacher resources.

It's all part of a general trend of digital transformation. Advocates (like us!) believe it's a cost-effective and convenient way of managing your software and data that can make a valuable difference to student and teacher outcomes.

What are the benefits of cloud migration for educational organisations?

Some of the benefits for schools, colleges and universities are the same as the benefits for any other sector. Others are specific to your goals as an educational institution.

The elevator pitch for cloud migration in any sector goes something like this.

You're a company or institution with a lot of data and a lot of software. To keep these running, you need a room full of servers.

Great! You're the captain of your digital destiny, fully in control of your infrastructure.

Then the day comes when you hit capacity. You need more servers. Or, conversely, you're scaling back and need fewer. Either way, there's no way to achieve this without spending a lot of money and putting up with disruption to your day-to-day activities.

Or say the day comes when a server needs repairing. This is an unexpected outlay – and time-sink – that you could really do without.

When you migrate to the cloud, the provider sorts all of that out for you. They take care of upkeep and management – and they oversee the process when you need to scale up or down. It's as simple as changing your subscription plan.

And while they're at it, they're on top of the ever-changing cyber-security landscape. When a new threat emerges, they respond. Your infrastructure is automatically updated.

From a budgetary point of view, you're replacing long-term costs prone to unwanted spikes with a straightforward payment plan.

Another overarching advantage is that it centralises your data and software. They're no longer split between different bits of software on different bits of hardware that aren't always accessible when you need them.

In the age of hybrid working – and hybrid learning – this accessibility is a godsend.

In the context of education, it also enhances collaboration among staff. It's easy to share and co-author documents, files and lesson plans. All you need are your staff login details and a working internet connection. It doesn't matter whether you're in the staff room, in the science block or on a roof terrace in Dubai.

At a time when teacher burnout is an issue facing many institutions, this accessibility can help relieve some of the stress.

Cloud-based software is also great at automating data analysis. All your student data is in one place and your software can extract insights into performance and attendance with a speed that an individual member of staff can't match.

Then there's the potential unlocked by virtual classrooms. These became headline news – and a household reality – during the pandemic, but the trend shows no sign of abating.

Some are sceptical of the value of virtual classrooms. In reality, they are to traditional classroom learning what Zoom meetings are to a conference room. You get out what you put in.

If planned and delivered well, virtual classrooms can be engaging and stimulating environments.

They're also accessible. No one needs to be excluded from the class because of health issues or special educational needs.

Finally, they can be used for induction. In situations where a student can't attend in-person induction for any reason, this can be invaluable.

What are some challenges for educational organisations?

The key concern for many education professionals is the cost. But, in fact, cloud services generally cost less than on-premise data centres – even when you take into account investment in cloud-ready devices.

The other issue is data protection. There's a fear that the cloud is insecure – and given that educational institutions hold a lot of sensitive data, it's a reasonable concern.

Two things are worth pointing out here. One is that cloud providers have some of the most rigorous security teams in the world. It's their job to keep your data safe – and they have resources to do so that exceed your own.

The other point to make is that migrating to the cloud frees up time that you can redirect to security if you so choose. IT no longer has to uncoil cables and install updates. Instead, they can work on improving your security posture.

Last but not least, there's the question of data sovereignty. In France , for instance, the Education Minister has said that free versions of Google Workspace and Microsoft Office 365 shouldn't be used in schools.

Why? Because Microsoft and Google store data in the USA – and an EU Court of Justice ruling called "Schrems II" has said that US data governance falls short of European privacy standards.

This is a legislative tangle beyond the scope of this blog post. But whatever the complications, we would say that the benefits far outweigh the challenges – and that those challenges can be tackled well by reputable cloud consultants.

More and more educational institutions are moving to the cloud and reaping the rewards. Are you going to get involved?

At Ascend Cloud Solutions, we know VMware cloud migration like the backs of our hands. If you want to learn more about our services, get in touch today.