Cloud computing

While prevalent in our personal and professional lives, these Service as a Software or SaaS Solutions have also entered that of our education system. Young people have embraced this new form of communication, probably without even knowing the impact on us. We aren’t just talking about social networks and chat rooms; here are six SaaS solutions that are being used by college campuses today.

1. Email - Would it surprise you that email is by far the most popular form of SaaS solutions? This is true when you consider that one of the important factors is the ability to check it from any computer. And the most popular email service for students is that of Google’s own Gmail. Not only can students check their Gmail accounts from school and home, but with the rise of Android phones, email can be checked while on the go as well.  In fact, one recent study says 60% of public universities are using Gmail.
2. YouTube – The popularity of YouTube has not waned since its introduction in 2005 and its purchase by Google in 2006.  Extra help can be gained by a variety of tutorial and help videos, while also helping potential students in choosing which school they want to go to by the use of the video tour guide.  We also learned from a recent .eduGuru study that 91% of colleges have a YouTube Channel.
3. Flickr - A portion of social media includes those websites that allow for sharing of various media, and Flickr is by far the most popular among college students, with 62% of them having a Flickr account. Not only can students share with others; they can download and use pictures from others for project uses.
4. Storage – One of the most obvious reasons to invest in SaaS solutions is that of the online storage of your files, which can easily be accessed from anywhere. Dropbox, for instance, is a favorite, allowing the upload of files, documents, video, and pictures; there is a desktop version, online version, smartphone version, and even browser plugins so you can upload from anywhere on any device.
5. Wikipedia – Wikipedia and its various wikis are often the go-to when it comes to research on papers. While not looked at favorably due to user written content, these pages are still great SaaS solutions in terms of collaboration and research.
6. Online Documenting – When working on an assignment or term paper with other people, trying to make changes or know which is which can be confusing. Google Docs and web versions of Microsoft’s Office allow for collaboration on a single project without confusion.

SaaS solutions for the education world are growing; even the use of interactive maps, such as those provided by nuCloud, allow the ability for students and faculty to view their school in a social way, from anywhere in the world.

Related posts:

1. IBM’s New Academic Cloud Initiative for Colleges
2. 6 Reasons Why a SaaS Interactive Map is Cheaper and Better Long Term
3. Cloud Computing’s Future and What It Could Mean for Colleges and Universities

What is Software as a Service (SaaS)?

Unlike typical software purchasing, SaaS allows you to use software without the accompanying stressors of updates and licensing, and for a lower cost. Software is hosted at a general hub, allowing individuals to access it via a web browser over the internet. Companies and higher education institutions can pay to access a range of software applications, including an interactive campus map. The price of accessing software applications via SaaS is generally set according to the number of users using the application but can be set according to other units of value.

SaaS can help you develop your interactive campus map for less money and better results by involving lower upfront costs, no catches, regular software updates, no depreciation or obsolete software, and allowing you to benefit from the latest technology without having to purchase a web server.  Don’t get surprised with the “hidden costs” of taking this project on yourself.

1. Lower Upfront Costs

How much did you spend on your last interactive campus map software? Do you want to save on your next one? Software as a Service will allow you to produce an equal or higher quality interactive campus map without having to spend tens of thousands on buying the initial software. Rather than investing a ton of money on software that will depreciate over time, you can pay to have access to the latest software and updates.

2. No Catches

With SaaS, you do not have to invest a ton of money on software application for your interactive campus map to then find out you don’t like it. With a subscription model you can drop it much sooner and go with something else.  Because there are lower upfront costs, you can choose to use other software without feeling you have blown your investment.

3. Regular Software Updates

With SaaS, software is installed on the providers servers rather than your computer or your web server.  This means that you will no longer have to mess with software updates, licensing, and other maintenance tasks. The SaaS provider will do this for you. You get to use these latest updates to prepare and run your interactive campus map with no delay.  Don’t get caught with an interactive map that is years obsolete because you can’t afford or don’t have an easy way to update and enhance it.

4. Benefit from the Latest Technology

Technology progresses fast! We have become a culture of Android phones, social networking, and online entertainment. What will it be tomorrow? Similar to software updates, with SaaS you will no longer have to spend hours or money developing the latest technology. Your SaaS provider will do that for you, allowing you to reap the benefits. While others are stuck with older technology, you can wow potential students with your high tech, sophisticated interactive campus map. Explore some of our latest technology.

5. No Web Server Purchase Necessary

Want to save more money in addition to the upfront savings? Because your interactive campus map will be located at a centralized hub, you will not need to pay for a web server. In addition to reducing costs by not having to purchase a web server, you can also save money by not having to pay a system administrator to manage the server or install any updates. This will be taken care of by your SaaS provider.  Don’t get caught by surprise with these major “hidden costs” of ownership.

6. No Depreciation or Obsolete Software

Unlike regular purchases of software, the software you have access to through your SaaS provider will not depreciate or become obsolete. You will not purchase software to have the software publisher bring out a new edition days later. Your subscription will never depreciate because your SaaS provider will be on top of the latest technology, giving you access to the latest software applications. Your interactive campus map will benefit from new technology trends without you having to spend a fortune.

So what do you think?  Are you convinced yet that SaaS is a better solution for your interactive campus map, or do you still want to host and maintain everything on  your own?  Leave a comment below and tell us your thoughts.

Related posts:

1. Top 5 Reasons You Need An Interactive Campus Map
2. 6 SaaS Solutions Being Used By Colleges Today
3. Why Editing An Interactive Map Should Be No Harder Than Updating Facebook

From the release, IBM claims the following:

Using the new IBM Academic Skills Cloud, professors can help students:

- learn the latest technology skills, such as software development and practical use of information management, Web 2.0 and cloud computing and how they can be applied for decision-making;
- access IT curricula and courses from anywhere using their laptop or netbook;
- differentiate themselves from other graduates by gaining key IT skills to better compete for jobs.

On paper, this and everything else promised sounds really interesting and promising.

Now back to The Chronicle article.  IBM Pitches New ‘Cloud’ Software to Colleges.  But Some Say It’s Corporate PR.

Reading through this short article they claim this IBM initative is simply a PR stunt similar to what Microsoft did around their Microsoft University program.  One of the main purposes of Microsoft University is to help students get Microsoft Professional Certifications.  My criticism of the article is that I don’t necessarily see students and recent graduates getting certified in popular software systems as a bad thing.  As someone who actually is a MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional) maybe I’m a little biased.  It is true that the things that I was certified on have nothing to do with nuCloud or any of the current projects that I work on, but this only helps my credibility, right?  Individuals getting certified that they are competent in a skill is an extremely efficient way to sort through resumes.  Although just because someone doesn’t have a certification in a certain area doesn’t mean they do not have the necessary skills, but having that certification shows that they also have the initiative to get the proof to say they know what they are talking about.

The same holds true for any of these IBM cloud skills.  Obviously at nuCloud we are HUGE proponents of the cloud module as the future of not just the web but technology in general.  The more educated students can be the better,  getting on these core competences and better understanding of the way the technology works.  In many respects the cloud is a new way of thinking about resource management and programming.

So maybe this IBM Academic Cloud does have some PR reasons behind it, but the knowledge and resources they are providing should not be simply dismissed.  For better or worse major players like IBM and Microsoft lay the foundation that much of our technology is built on.  The better we can educate the future on this the more successful they will be.  Not simply so they can be “experts” on these specific platforms, but so they can learn from them to apply the core concepts in “out of the box” formats.

So what are your thoughts?  Is this just a PR stunt or is free cloud education good for universities?

Related posts:

1. Cloud Computing’s Future and What It Could Mean for Colleges and Universities
2. Forbes called Cloud Computing “The Death of Hardware”
3. A little Uncloudy explanation of the Cloud

The next revolution in high tech is taking place inside the “cloud” of the Internet. Small outfits looking to do lots of computing in a hurry are not buying hardware anymore; they’re renting from established players that already operate vast networks of cheap computers. Time-sharing, a concept from the dawn of the computing age, is back with a vengeance.

Although this article is more than a year old, it’s interesting to see how things have changed and yet some things haven’t changed.  Technology like this doesn’t evolve overnight and can take years to be fully developed, accepted, and adopted.  What the article does a really good job of pointing out is that this isn’t a fluke when you have so many major Technology players investing tons of dollars into creating gigantic server farmers with much more computational power than even the largest technology companies need.  Because this article is older it doesn’t mention all the new players that have jumped into the field since then, but it does give a lot of credit to Amazon and even Microsoft.  Just to give you an idea of how quickly technology decisions are made, the article states that Google “has shown no interest in leasing out its vast infrastructure.”  As we know now that is not how things have played out,  as Google has jumped in as a major player in this market.

Once again the cost benefits are simply mind-blowing and with new big players jumping into this model almost monthly it’s just another assurance that cloud computing is the future.

There are multiple ways that you can jump into the clouds today and enjoy the cost savings.  Most of you are already using cloud services and don’t even realize it.  If you have an email account through Gmail or Yahoo  you are technically leveraging the cloud.  Same if you save and store photographs on Flickr or  Shutterfly.  And what about video websites like YouTube?  This is considered cloud technology as well.  A virtual tour is no different then any of these other services.

So how imminent of a death are you making your hardware?  Living in the clouds definitely has a lot of advantages.  Slow moving non-critical services is a great start and allows for great savings and it frees up time for your system administrators for what is critical.  It is only a matter of time before the cloud is secure and stable enough to handle everything.  Death to Hardware!

Photo: innovation by stanescoo

Related posts:

1. Cloud Computing’s Future and What It Could Mean for Colleges and Universities
2. $5 Million in Grants for Universities Towards Cloud Computing Initiatives
3. A little Uncloudy explanation of the Cloud

Some of the important takeaways from the piece are about how it will effect not just corporate users but also end users.   In fact I think it’s safe to say that we probably are doing more with cloud computing today than most of us even realize.

“The most important single characteristic of a cloud is abstraction of the hardware from the service,” says John Willis, a noted cloud-computing expert and blogger, explaining that the location of the servers is not as important as easy access to the data. “However you define it, I think cloud technology will have a footprint in every business that does IT within the next five years.”

The realistic expectations that we’re given about data security, encryption, and patching of systems is addressed nicely.  I’ve always stood by the notion that in a server farm environment where you have some of the best network and system administrators, managing a large number of systems is much more secure, more economical, and less likely to experience downtime than a company with its own system administrator trying to manage a few systems.  This one individual doesn’t have the advantage of patching thousands of systems or the experience of doing it thousands of times to really be specialized in that field.  Most likely, in a small company your system administrator is also your network administrator, tech support, and could be handling a number of other responsibilities.  The cloud allows for specialized skills and services at scalable pricing.

Finally the article closes with a reality check that although cloud computing is the future, we aren’t there yet. It cautions that “it’s almost experimental, rather than a reliable and trusted computing paradigm.”  Even in an experimental environment cloud computing offers not only unlimited possibilities but cost saving and lots of value now even with a track record that isn’t 100%.  Not every system in an organization is mission critical, and with the cost savings and less resources required to get into the clouds this experimental environment still holds a lot of promise today.  A campus’ interactive map just happens to be one example of something that isn’t mission critical but could easily live in the clouds.
Photo Credit: Internet’s universe… by CLUC

Related posts:

1. $5 Million in Grants for Universities Towards Cloud Computing Initiatives
2. IBM’s New Academic Cloud Initiative for Colleges
3. A little Uncloudy explanation of the Cloud

Award Winners

1. Carnegie-Mellon University
2. Flordia International Unviersity
3. MIT
4. Purdue
5. University of California-Irvine
6. UC-San Diego
7. UC-Santa Barbara
8. University of Maryland
9. University of Massachusetts
10. University of Virginia
11. University of Washington
12. University of Wisconsin
13. University of Utah
14. Yale

Although these universities will run a range of projects what is most interesting is academia’s excitement and embracement of this rapidly developing and exciting technology.

“Academic researchers have expressed a need for access to massively scaled computing infrastructures that allow them to complete projects and research activities that have been difficult or impossible previously due to the amount of data involved” Jeannette Wing, NSF’s assistant director for computer and information science and engineering

These projects demonstrate the computational power and distributed resource capacity that cloud computing can allow, but by no means should this be limited to research projects.  Tapping into this powerful resource from a marketing and distribution channel perspective provides just as much flexibility and accessibility.

The important takeaway is that the embracement of this technology and relationships being built with these leading technology companies, IBM & Google, simply display more reasons to explore more of this technology and the services that it can provide.  Those services could be streaming video, interactive multimedia map elements or any number of other advancements.  The point being academia is ready for these new technologies and finding ways to embrace and utilizing them for the computation power or the cost saving and decreased administrative efforts.

So what do you think?  Are more institutes ready to embrace cloud computing?

More Information

• http://www.infoworld.com/d/cloud-computing/universities-get-5-million-in-grants-use-ibmgoogle-cloud-016
• http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/100807-google-ibm-parallel-computing.html

Related posts:

1. Cloud Computing’s Future and What It Could Mean for Colleges and Universities
2. Forbes called Cloud Computing “The Death of Hardware”
3. A little Uncloudy explanation of the Cloud

Virtualization, Storage area network (SAN), data security, data redundancy, hosting data remotely are all terms and concepts that have been around for a while now they are just being done a little different where the infrastructure isn’t as important as the application and hosting of the data. In an article titled Time to head for the cloud?, Bill Sexton the CIO British Gas Services states it this way:

“I predict that within five years the way we run our corporate IT will be significantly different,” he says. “In the future it will not matter where the software lives, and in my view if you still have it on site you’ll be throwing money away because you’ll be putting half of your resources into supporting the infrastructure. It’s not the infrastructure that matters ­ it’s the applications.”

There are many ways to look at the opportunities available by cloud computing. We aren’t going at the approach of redoing the way that you do things so much as introducing new ways handle upcoming technologies that are simply far more efficient and optimized for you and your customers. Maybe you already have video hosting and streaming technology, but how does it scale? With the onslaught of video becoming more popular and more video content being created at someone point it’s not going to make sense for you to manage it all locally. The same can be said for other assets. By no means am I suggesting that all assets should be moved to the cloud now or that it makes sense for all organizations, but it has to be something that you are at least toying with and beginning to get your feet wet in the technology.

Some of the best reads on Cloud Computing for the last week.

Keep the ‘cloud’ non-mission critical – Software-as-a-service (SaaS) is “several years away” from being enterprise-ready, but companies should begin experimenting with the technology, according to a Citrix executive.

Case Studies in Cloud Computing – Cloud computing can seem amorphous and hard to grasp — billowy white puffs of IT infrastructure. The best way to bring the trend into focus is through real-world business examples, and we’re beginning to see more of them.

Finally you have probably heard all about Google Chrome this week?  Since it came out Tuesday it has been talked about everywhere online.  Google Chrome: Browser or Cloud Operating System?

Related posts:

1. Forbes called Cloud Computing “The Death of Hardware”
2. Cloud Computing’s Future and What It Could Mean for Colleges and Universities
3. $5 Million in Grants for Universities Towards Cloud Computing Initiatives