Why Higher Education Shouldn’t Fear the Cloud

While higher ed institutions around the country have largely embraced the cloud and have started to migrate their systems in large numbers, a recent CIO Review article reports that there are lingering concerns. Specifically, “reservations when it comes to their core systems. Those reservations are mostly based on fears around control, security, or simply change.” In another survey, conducted by Meritalk, the most common concern held in relation to the cloud, was security, as it was reported by 55% of respondents.

Security Concerns Linger in Higher Ed, while Adoption Rates Increase

Though it doesn’t appear that these concerns have stopped organizations from moving to the cloud.  In fact, it’s reported that 81% of technology leaders surveyed said their institution planned to increase spending on cloud computing in the coming year. The CIO Review article suggests that it may impact which workloads they’ve chosen to migrate. With the cloud security discussion lingering among technology leadership in higher education, is there a valid concern and what can be done to combat any risk?

Steps Higher Ed Can Take to Embrace a Secure Cloud

A recent EdTech article recommends a number of  “cyberhygeine practices” to improve higher ed security, including:

Multifactor authentication

It’s important to find a cloud provider that has multifactor authentication in place and then ensure that users follow protocol and are aware of the benefits of doing so.

Backups

This article recommends evaluating what the most critical files are to back up and ensuring if the back ups are taking place and working properly, in order to avoid data loss.

Virtual Private Networks

“Educating the university community about the benefits of using a VPN, and then encouraging them to do so, is a great hygiene activity that will pay off as they access university systems from places like the airport.”

For more higher ed security best practices, the Educause Cybersecurity Guide is a great and comprehensive resource on the topic.

Additional Cloud Resources for Higher Education

Beyond this, there are a number of resources – including some from secure cloud service providers – that can help your institution to work towards a more secure higher ed systems, especially when they’re cloud-based. To learn more about what’s available from dinCloud, see our security page. We offer a hyper converged infrastructure that includes 1 daily backup that’s stored for 10 days.

If you would like additional information, or to discuss your institution’s environment, contact us via this form or see our higher education resource page.