Cloud Computing’s Top Issues for Higher Education

Abstract

The “cloud computing” trend of replacing software traditionally installed on campus computers (and the computers themselves) with applications delivered via the internet is driven by aims of reducing universities’ IT complexity and cost. While today’s “cloud powered” higher education institutions can gain significant flexibility and agility, the corresponding migration of their sensitive data into remote, worldwide data centers--the “cloud” itself--introduce profound legal, compliance, and political issues. This is particularly true in the university community, which, given the data members handle, can be subject to everything from financial regulations and insurance laws to export controls.