Cloud Computing

What is it?


In its broadest usage, the term cloud computing refers to the delivery of scalable IT resources over the Internet, as opposed to hosting and operating those resources locally, such as on a college or university network. Those resources can include applications and services, as well as the infrastructure on which they operate. By deploying IT infrastructure and services over the network, an organization can purchase these resources on an as-needed basis and avoid the capital costs of software and hardware. With cloud computing, IT capacity can be adjusted quickly and easily to accommodate changes in demand. While remotely hosted, managed services have long been a part of the IT landscape, a heightened interest in cloud computing is being fueled by ubiquitous networks, maturing standards, the rise of hardware and software virtualization, and the push to make IT costs variable and transparent.

Who’s doing it?



Cloud and cloud-like solutions appear to be widespread and growing in higher education, though in relatively focused areas,such as student e-mail. E-mail notwithstanding, higher education institutions are more likely to obtain new services from the cloud than to transition established services that have long been operated by the campus. Many colleges and universities see pockets of cloud service usage in other areas, often led by individual faculty or students looking for the added flexibility and convenience that the cloud can provide. Among the drivers that are encouraging more institutions to contemplate cloud services are budget pressures, calls for increased reliability of and access to IT systems, and the need for institutions to provide timely access to the latest IT functionality.

How does it work?


In traditional enterprise computing, IT departments forecast demand for applications and capacity and invest time and money to develop those resources in-house or purchase them from others and operate them in-house. With cloud computing, institutions procure IT services from remote providers, and campus constituents
access these resources over the Internet. E-mail, for example, long considered a staple of an institution’s IT operations, can be obtained from a range of sources, and a growing number of campuses contract with outside suppliers for this function. Software is hosted by the provider and does not need to be installed—or maintained—on individual computers around campus. In some cases, a large university or a consortium might become a provider of cloud services.