Shaping the Higher Education Cloud

As technologies like virtualization and cloud computing assume important places within the IT landscape, higher education leaders will need to consider which institutional services they wish to leave to consumer choice, which ones they wish to source and administer “somewhere else,” and which services they should operate centrally or locally on campus. This EDUCAUSE White Paper came out of a February 2010 meeting in whichchief information officers, chief business officers, and industry leaders gathered in Tempe, Arizona, for a two-day EDUCAUSE/NACUBO Cloud Computing Workshop to explore what shape a higher education cloud might take and to identify opportunities and models for partnering together. One important option is the development of collaborative service offerings among colleges and universities. Yet, substantial challenges raise at least some near-term concerns including risk, security, and governance issues; uncertainty about return on investment and service provider certification; and questions regarding which business and academic activities are best suited for the cloud. This white paper captures key findings from those two days of exploring, including recommendations for cloud action.