Cloud computing coming to a school near you

During a recent interview, Sarah Underwood, magazine and brand editor of information and communications technology for Education, expressed that many specialist schools and academies could implement cloud computing “quite soon.”

Furthermore, Underwood stated bringing cloud computing to educational institutions would be “a great step forward for education.”

"[The cloud] saves [schools] from downtime, maintenance, upgrades, it has shared costs and they don't have to run it for themselves,” Underwood said. However, she also expressed that “you need ICT people who are going to champion it.”

Incorporation of the managed IT service into education institutions would fall in line with the recent trend toward the technology. Businesses of all sizes have begun reaping the benefits of the cloud, seeing it as a cost-effective method for managing their daily IT responsibilities.

A recent report from Osterman Research found companies’ investment in cloud computing will increase by 10 percent during 2011. If schools began investing as well, the market for cloud computing could reach record numbers.