As they look for ways to increase student learning, streamline operations, and reduce costs, schools and districts are seeking high-quality cloud-based solutions.
Schools and districts continue to integrate emerging technology into the classroom to meet the needs of their students and the requests of their educators. Virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and augmented reality tools and platforms are creating interactive, hands-on, safer, and cost-effective learning experiences. In addition to creating new and innovative ways to support student learning, technology is also being used to streamline school operations. Access control systems are increasing safety in schools and smart HVAC systems are improving energy efficiency. As school leaders search for the right tools, resources, and platforms to support and implement these uses of technology, they are turning to cloud-based solutions. The additional flexibility, variety, and storage that cloud-based computing offers, has many schools and districts considering their options and determining how to best design a cloud strategy that meets their needs.
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) provides schools with a cost-effective alternative for storage and network connectivity.
IaaS services allow schools to move infrastructure services like servers, networks, and hardware from on-premises to the cloud. These services offer storage, networking, and computing capacity in a manner that provides schools with cost savings and flexibility. When a school with on-premises only computing needs to scale up its network, advanced planning and significant capital investments are required. They would need time and money for sourcing, purchasing, and installation. Meanwhile, schools subscribed to a pay-as-you-go IaaS subscription model can easily and quickly scale up with a request to their cloud service provider. The inverse is true as well. A school that is underutilizing its network storage capacity will continue to be responsible for the same fixed costs, while a school using an IaaS model can easily scale down and pay less. Another benefit of the IaaS cloud-based solution is increased data security. This solution comes with a high degree of security and data protection. One by-product of the scale of IaaS providers is the premium security options that become available in a cost-effective manner.
Schools looking for more than just infrastructure support can turn to Software as a Service (SaaS) products.
SaaS products often provide a cloud service that is user-friendly are requires very little management from school-based staff. Any updates to the applications occur behind the scenes leaving users to focus only on the task and not the underlying system. SaaS applications were popular in schools before the Covid-19 pandemic, but there was a dramatic uptick in the use of this technology when the need for remote learning and collaboration became urgent. Cloud-based applications like Google Suite and Microsoft 365 are examples of SaaS that kept students connected to schools during the remote learning phase of the pandemic. Student Information Systems (SIS) or Learning Management Software (LMS) are other examples of SaaS solutions that schools can implement. While many of these systems can come with a hefty price tag, these platforms allow for easy access from any location from a wide array of devices. To meet their needs related to cost savings, operations streamlining, remote access, and flexibility, many schools use a combination of IaaS and SaaS services.
At CTS, we help schools use cloud-based computing to accomplish their unique missions.
Our team has collaborated with more than 60 schools across the United States to improve their technology programming. From critical school IT infrastructure to broader managed IT services, technical project support, and student data analysis, our team offers a full suite of services that can help you and your school leadership team make the most of your technology investments.
Effective school IT infrastructure is a non-negotiable and cloud-based computing offers schools a flexible, modern approach. By working with CTS, you can rest easy knowing that our experts will help you select the best cloud-based solution for your school. Whether your biggest concern is regarding scalability, flexibility, security, or all three, CTS can help. We support schools with sourcing and procurement. We can support your IT staff and your instructional staff with training so they can make good use of the technology in pursuit of better student engagement and increased achievement. If you are interested in learning more about the options for cloud-based computing and how implementation can benefit your students and your unique mission, we can help. Contact us today to learn more about our services and how we can help your school make a smooth transition to the cloud.
