For the past few months, I have been on a pseudo listening tour with campus leaders, IT staff, system users and students sharing their biggest technology challenges. One distinct theme has come through loud and clear—not just in formal sessions but in hallway conversations, too: moving to the cloud isn’t just a technical shift. It’s an emotional one. It’s not just modern technology, it’s fitting in time to think about change and then actually trying to implement it. It’s balancing existing processes that work with an openness to new ideas.
At face value, cloud-based systems offer what every institution wants: stronger security, lower costs and simpler maintenance. But for the people responsible for running those systems—many of whom have spent years customizing on-premise software and developing tried and true processes to fit their institutional needs —making the move to the cloud can feel like giving up control.
And understandably so.
‘Making the move to the cloud can feel like giving up control.’
On-premise systems often represent years, even decades, of hands-on configuration. Every workflow, workaround, and process was created to align with the way an institution operates. IT is accustomed to full access to the back end, managing servers in-house and writing its own rules. End users are accustomed to a system that can flex to their specific processes – to support the unique ways that institutions execute common processes. Letting go of that feels risky—like handing over the keys to someone else.
From Risk to Opportunity
This year, though, a shift was noticeable. More and more campus leaders began expressing something different. A sense that the tradeoff didn’t have to be so stark. That cloud-based platforms aren’t about losing flexibility—but gaining a different kind of freedom. Aligning the institution to outcomes – delivering a great student experience, increasing efficiency for staff users, providing insights through accurate data – is the focus needed to create the foundation for a successful cloud migration.