The sky’s the limit! So here’s 5 reasons why you should cloud host

Out of so many reasons why cloud hosting would be an ideal solution for your school, I’ve picked the 5 most important to consider. Your school’s systems and IT infrastructure are lifelines for the teachers, students and parents who need them, so why would you not consider a solution that guarantees access to the information they need? 

So, what’s this about a cloud then?

Not too long ago, the idea of being able to access information; documents, bills, resources, videos from any location, on any device, at any time was a step towards the future. A very distant and quite daunting future nonetheless. Where would the technology lead? How would it be used? Who would have access to it? These were all questions that many quite rightly asked, including professionals within the industry.

Fast forward to today and remote access to information is something that we take for granted, both in our personal and professional lives. This technology is soaring within the education sector because of how it helps increase accessibility and ease of use for IT systems within schools. With data remotely hosted, teachers can access information at any time of the day. Students can access homework and resources at any time, negating the need for reams of paper and missing out on classes that they could not attended. Parents can interact with teachers to keep positive lines of communication open, whether it be engaging in discussions about their child’s progress or paying for an important school trip. The whole concept is used to increase engagement, maximise efficiency and as a result, help learning flourish.

Why have your data cloud hosted?

• Diminished Costs: The need to buy, house and maintain expensive infrastructure is no longer required. For a small school with a limited budget, the need to employ an external Data Manager is not necessary and if a teacher takes responsibility for IT, they have more time to focus on the wider IT strategy, as well as teach. Bigger schools with a greater budget at their disposal can focus their IT team’s skill set on other areas of the IT strategy across the school.
• Easy Access: Staff, students and parents can access information from any device, at any time and in any location providing they have an internet connection. No more limitations on when digital learning and engagement can take place!
• Security: Do you have a Disaster Recovery Plan in place? What happens if you have a serious power outage or your utilities are switched off for maintenance? More generally, how safe is your data from external threats? Would it not be easier to make sure your data is stored within a system that has to undergo regular, intense security updates to make sure it is compliant? What a saving to your time and budget that would be.
• Sharing: Encourage student progress by allowing parents and students to interact with teachers remotely. Whether it’s about a score on a test or extra tuition, communication can take place at any time and issues can be resolved there and then.
• Progress: Regardless of the size of your school and the resources that you have available to you, with your data hosted you no longer need to worry about manually updating your systems. Your software provider will take care of this for you so, using your school MIS as an example, you will always be working on the most up-to-date system with functionality to match.

In the hectic school environment, where resources and time are stretched, it’s crucial to make sure that your data and systems are not only accessible but are safe and maintained. Why add more tasks to your ever-growing list when a simple change could alter your IT strategy for the better.