Higher Ed Institutions Want Increased Storage Options, Survey Shows

Report Shows Flexible Storage Options Are Important to Higher Ed

Higher education institutions store and maintain a massive amount of data, including financial records, student records, applicant information and more. Add research data into the mix and some institutions have data environments that rival those of major enterprises. Ensuring that there’s enough storage space to securely and reliably hold all of this data is a must. This is where the cloud comes in.

According to survey results, 59% of higher education respondents say that limited capacity for storage and management is the biggest challenge they face for maintaining their on-premises assets. Opting to use the cloud in some way can help institutions find that extra storage where and when they need it. Of the higher education respondents, 56% say they have seen increased agility and efficiency from using the public cloud, and 47% have seen scalability benefits.

Respondents Address Cost, Staffing and Security Challenges 

Higher education’s sentiments around cloud costs are mixed, with 44% saying the high cost of investing in on-premises assets is one of the biggest maintenance challenges, while 38% of respondents have seen total cost of ownership benefits from using the public cloud. Most respondents (85%) are either very or somewhat confident that they can track the costs of their cloud systems.

READ MORE: What are the benefits of infrastructure modernization for your institution?

Like on-premises assets, cloud infrastructure also requires maintenance. Ninety-four percent of respondents said they can very or somewhat effectively manage their cloud environments.

Having skilled in-house staff is key for 69% of respondents, but 50% say their institution has a lack of on-staff cloud skills.  Moving workloads to the cloud has helped 41% of respondents decrease their staffing needs, while 26 percent haven’t seen a change in staffing needs.

Respondents also named cloud management platforms and third-party management services as important for maintenance. For the 50% of respondents who said limited staffing to monitor and maintain on-premises data centers is one of their biggest challenges, having these tools at their disposal for cloud maintenance is vital.

Security is a concern in all aspects of higher education. As institutions manage sensitive data about students and staff and high-value research data, they are prime targets for cybercriminals. Therefore, securing the environments that store this data is imperative.

DIG DEEPER: Why higher education is implementing hybrid cloud solutions.

The survey results reflect security’s importance to the sector, with 32 percent of respondents calling it the most important reason they might keep an application on premises. Integration of disparate security tools was named the most challenging aspect to achieving unified security controls and identity across cloud systems. For those respondents who indicated that they have repatriated data back to on-premises infrastructure, more than half (52%) said they did so because of security concerns.

Concerns Around Artificial Intelligence Adoption Persist

Having a reliable, modern infrastructure is vital to supporting emerging technologies such as AI, which 74% of respondents are currently using. The location of these AI workloads varies, with respondents using a mix of on-premises data center and public, private and hybrid cloud configurations.

Cost is seen as the biggest barrier to using AI at these institutions, but institutions are also concerned about the quality of data for use in AI applications and a lack of AI expertise on staff. For those not using AI, a lack of helpful use cases, lack of AI expertise, and concerns about data privacy and security were named the biggest reasons why.

Maintaining a modern cloud solution requires the right expertise. Third-party solutions providers can help higher ed institutions develop a cloud strategy that is cost-effective and secure and takes the burden off their staff members. Modernized infrastructure is vital for higher education institutions looking to harness the power of AI and other emerging technologies, and working with experts to determine the best path forward can keep them ahead of the curve.