After a cyberattack disabled Hartnell College’s entire IT infrastructure, we helped them get back online in days with a new cloud-based infrastructure built on AWS.
We’re very proud to have been part of this important effort.
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Due to the sudden shift toward remote learning, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated many institutions’ paths toward digital transformation and cloud adoption. Although in-person learning has resumed, higher education continues to move away from physical server infrastructure and toward cloud services. Let’s discuss everything IT professionals and administrators need to know about the why and how of cloud migration strategies.
At the pandemic’s peak, cloud services allowed higher education institutions to rapidly pivot to a digital learning format. However, the benefits of cloud data migration go beyond Zoom classes and learning management systems (LMS) to streamlining key IT and organizational operations. The many benefits of cloud migration include but aren’t limited to:
How can the cloud fit into your institution? Here are some real use cases for the cloud in higher education:
First, consider whether your organization is ready for this level of change. Cloud migration can impact other ongoing IT projects, so it’s important to understand your preparedness before diving into a full migration project. Make sure to address all of the following concerns:
The following steps provide a basic outline for beginning a cloud migration initiative:
Once implementation is complete, stay aware of changes within your cloud environment to reduce costs and maintain high performance. You need to constantly be up to date to ensure you can use all the features you’re paying for.
Organizations have a wide variety of cloud services they can choose from to build their overall cloud strategy.
First, there are three types of cloud configurations:
Within those configurations, there are three types of cloud services you may use:
Most cloud environments use a combination of all of the above services and configurations, creating a comprehensive solution for their computing needs.
When you begin planning a server migration to the cloud, consider the following:
If your institution needs help creating an effective server-to-cloud migration plan, consider working with an IT consulting service dedicated to the education industry.
By Marcia A. Daniel, Chief Client Officer, Ferrilli
Not long ago, the Chief Information Officer at a small private institution told me something I never thought I’d hear. “Marcia,” he said, “I can’t get our president to leave me alone. Every day there’s another call about asking what we can do to try and make things run smoother in another department. It’s everything from admissions to the library to housing. I need a break!”
I just had to laugh – because there was a time when every higher education CIO I knew would have begged for the same level or attention. For decades, the only time presidents or their VPs would engage IT leaders was when problems arose. The network is down. Email isn’t working. We have a security problem. IT was essentially a triage center, where maintenance and crisis management were the central responsibilities once a system was implemented.
Today that’s all changing to the point that our CIO from that small private college certainly isn’t alone. Over the last decade, cloud technology has been replacing on premise systems across higher education – and with solutions providers now responsible for ensuring baseline services and “keeping the lights on,” the CIO role is evolving into what it always should have been from the start: a truly strategic partner to institutional leadership
