For any institution looking to shift enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems to the cloud, big savings can be achieved--but only if the school has properly prepped "before" negotiations begin. These three steps can help: (1) Mop up the mess first; (2) Understand the true costs for services; and (3) Calculate the cost of transition.

This research is a continuation of a theoretical review that evaluated ICT Policy Outcomes for National Development in relation to Networked Readiness Index (NRI) and the impact it has on knowledge integration and management in higher education institutions in Nigeria. A new dawn in information technology (IT) has initiated new trends in…

For colleges and universities today, the question is no longer whether to develop a campus app or not. Instead, the debate has shifted to the best--and most cost-efficient--way to make campus applications accessible to the myriad devices and operating systems out there. Schools have a few options: They can develop multiple native app versions;…

With the US economy continuing its weak recovery, it's tempting to think that IT budgets in higher education might begin to rebound especially in light of the increased focus on online learning. Nice thought, but no. Education costs are rising even faster than those for healthcare, and the public outcry over the cost of higher education…

"Rent or buy?" is a question people ask about everything from housing to textbooks. It is also a question universities must consider when it comes to high-performance computing (HPC). With the advent of Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), Microsoft Windows HPC Server, Rackspace's OpenStack, and other cloud-based services, researchers now have…

With their budgets under increasing pressure, many campus IT directors are considering open source projects for the first time. On the face of it, the savings can be significant. Commercial emergency-planning software can cost upward of six figures, for example, whereas the open source Kuali Ready might run as little as $15,000 per year when…

In many ways, specialized computer labs are the black holes of IT organizations. Budgets, equipment, employees--even space itself--are sucked in. Given a choice, many IT shops would engage warp drive and escape their gravitational pull forever. While Captain Kirk might have looked to Scotty for a fix to the problem, colleges and universities are…

The members of the working group on National Educational Technology Policy continue to base their formulations around entrenched conceptions of education, retaining the language of teachers, students, curriculum standards, specified objectives and the like. Several of those participating in the panel examining the policy report in an earlier issue…

The education sector remains abuzz with cost-cutting expectations despite pressures to increase services. Automation of costly manual tasks could save funds for many of these institutions, specifically in data protection. The IT departments of schools and universities can take advantage of a proven cost-savings opportunity in data protection that…

At thousands of schools and universities, years of economic troubles have led to repeated budget cuts. The reductions typically fall disproportionately on maintenance departments, where cuts are viewed as less critical than those that directly affect classroom instruction. And so nearly every facility manager at an education institution faces a…

In the current economic conditions, many institutions face dwindling budgets and an increased focus on proving the value of the education provided. The effort and costs required to integrate Enterprise Resource Planning systems into course curricula are a significant investment of resources for any university. This paper examines the expense of…

Over the next few years, states will be transitioning to new, high-quality assessments aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) or other state college- and career-ready (CCR) standards. States are committed to making this transition in a manner that is determined and thoughtful--to help transform teaching and learning, advance CCR…

As state governors grapple with their budgets for 2012, public universities and colleges are facing some of the deepest funding cuts in memory. To make matters worse, most of the federal stimulus funds, which have helped dull the pain so far, will have been spent by June. It seems almost inevitable that IT departments are going to be asked to…

In this era of political rancor when everything is a zero-sum game, it is refreshing to think that two parties could actually come together to create a win-win situation. That is exactly what is happening, though, as a number of universities take on the role of application service provider (ASP) for smaller schools. It is not all confetti and…

This study examined the adoption of information technology (IT) emerging technology by higher education institutions with a focus on non-research and research based institutions categorized by Carnegie Mellon classifications that are members of EDUCAUSE, a higher education non-profit organization, whose mission is the use of IT in higher…