| | November 20158Cloud Solution-- A Closer Reality in the Education IndustryBy Becky Vasquez, CIO, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical UniversityBenefits of Cloud Computing for the Education IndustryCloud computing fundamentally provides the education industry with more options. Cloud solutions tend to be very elastic which allows us to be much more agile with our overall technology ecosystem approach and the services we provide. We're able to ramp up quickly by leveraging infrastructure already in place and scale at a moment's notice. Cloud is something I've embraced and placed core to our strategy for several years. By keeping cloud as a part of our strategic conversations and demonstrating value as we deliver new systems, we're able to do more with less and allow IT staff to focus on helping the business win versus becoming buried under complicated and sometimes antiquated technology foundations. While not every solution may be best served by cloud computing, keeping it front and center as an option and clearly understanding the pros and cons in relation to our initiatives allows us to stay forward thinking and ultimately, innovative with our overall approach. The Effective and Proactive Use of DataThis is both a data and a process consideration. Depending on the organization, culture can also play a factor. Siloed organizations may have difficulty establishing and expanding their business intelligence strategy if data is not readily shared at its core. From a technical perspective, an enterprise data warehouse is essential as well as strong middleware capabilities. In addition, the ability to visually provide data in a compelling and understandable way with business intelligence applications is imperative. Most importantly, analysts should have the skills to work with business partners to identify key performance indicators, metrics to support them, and then stress test them together. Asking themselves questions such as "Is this measurable?", "What action and responses will we take based on this data?", and "Are the sources of the data clearly understood?" will help make sure the data remains valuable for them. The bottom line is data needs to become more readily available in an interactive and robust way for decision makers and data owners. This is key to advancing our mission and remaining relevant in an ever changing landscape. Key Technology Areas that Education Institutions Should Focus First, understand your current technology support environment and how information technology may be perceived. If there are operational improvements to address, tackle these and then take the step to become innovation incubators. A commitment to openness in working with our students, peers, and partners around the institution is a good launching point. Cloud, mobile, big data, technology consumerization, and collaborative technologies come to mind as focus areas that can provide benefit to universities and colleges. The Role of CIOs Historically, CIOs may have defined and delivered the technology strategy independently based on their own and IT Cloud, mobile, big data, technology consumerization, and collaborative technologies come to mind as focus areas that can provide benefit to universities and collegesIn My Opinion
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