Successful change management in today’s Education space essentially requires institutions to adopt a model of continuous change with technology deployments. Recognizing the importance of this pursuit, leading EdTech vendors are moving forward with continuous release/improvement models for enterprise systems, with product roadmaps built upon the cloud. Migrating existing on-premises systems to the cloud becomes an operationally strategic decision when you consider the role of cloud in:
Cybersecurity
While cloud-based systems introduce their own cybersecurity considerations, they also provide institutions with unique advantages in securing confidential information. When properly utilized, the cloud supplements an institution’s layered defense by incorporating multifactor authentication, data encryption and the ability to detect and address vulnerabilities in real time. Data security becomes a shared responsibility, strengthening the effectiveness of your existing cybersecurity protocols with the additional resources provided by your solution and cloud providers.
By leveraging Microsoft Azure to deploy and host Etrieve, Softdocs provides your institution with full time encryption, contractual commitments around compliance and georedundant storage that ensures business continuity, and minimal data loss, in the event of a catastrophe.
Agility
Solutions architected for the cloud are built and deployed much differently than traditional, on-premises systems. The cloud enables software providers to move beyond all-inclusive, fragile, code-based systems and focus on configuration, building software using lightweight web applications that leverage APIs and Services to do the heavy lifting. With on-premises deployments, it can be far too easy to fall behind on updates to be applied, and by doing so, lose the ability to take advantage for the full benefit leveraged solutions provide. The cloud allows updates, releases and bug fixes to be applied automatically, deploying only what has changed and in a faster, more secure manner than possible with on-premises systems.
Your cloud provider monitors the reliability and status of your solutions in the cloud, regularly communicating insights on your institution’s environment and data security. Should IT requirements need to be increased or decreased, that can be readily accomplished without the need for costly changes to locally installed hardware.
Efficiency
Cloud solutions allow system administrators and IT staff to shift their focus from keeping the lights on to truly maximizing the impact of their technology deployment. Providing the ability to make real-time, elastic adjustments, the cloud ensures consistent and reliable performance without the need for costly investment in infrastructure to satisfy peak, term-time demand. Resources currently allocated to maintain, update or troubleshoot costly servers can be redirected, with cloud solution providers monitoring system performance and applying updates or enhancements remotely.
Softdocs began its journey to the cloud in 2016, with significant year over year growth of new customers making the decision to leverage Softdocs solutions in the cloud. In 2018, 76% of new Softdocs customers chose the cloud. In 2019, that number was 90%. And by 2020, the market was ready for Etrieve to be a cloud-only solution.
Today, the cloud is the choice of EVERY institution joining the Softdocs community and implementing electronic forms, workflow automation and content management. A new, cloud-first deployment and development methodology allows Softdocs Development to push incremental updates to campuses much faster, and more regularly, supporting the model of continuous improvement you employ.