In order to retain and recruit students, higher education institutions must position themselves as experts in the learning network and find more cost-effective ways to implement IT services. It is time to take the financial and structural pressure off of college IT staff by steering away from the burdensome cost of maintenance and upgrades, long lead times for infrastructure improvements and incompatibilities between systems and tools. Moving a system to the cloud can reduce the cost of ownership by 20 percent. Federal agencies have already reduced their operating costs by 30 percent.5 Colleges can expect to see similar results. The cloud also allows institutions to pay for what they use versus building capacities that are largely unexploited.

1. Delivering Public Service for the Future
The changing
atmosphere of higher
education: Harness the
power of cloud
Education

2. Technology is one of the most
disruptive influences in education,
challenging institutions to rethink
the content and methods of teaching
and learning. Higher education is
moving from traditional face-to-face
learning to a more collaborative,
self-led learning model—a shift
driven by technology.
Research shows that there will be an
estimated 26 billion smart devices in
use around the world by 2020.1
The
Internet of Things (IoT) is destined
to far outgrow other connected
devices, delivering more personalized
information more efficiently and
effectively. These smart solutions are
already seeping into homes, cities,
enterprises and the environment.
Over the next few years, IoT will
flood campuses, and students will
expect connectivity. But college
and universities deal with financial
strain from years of budgets cuts
and enrolment declines, and many
IT departments lack the structure
and resources to execute new
technologies that support digital
learning. Given such constraints, the
rise in IoT technology on campuses
may prove to be the tipping point in
the need for colleges to change how
they do business.
So how can higher education
institutions balance financial
limitations with the need to embrace
and employ the technology that
students bring into the classroom?
The answer lies in making structural
changes in how higher education
institutions think about and do
business. Cloud computing offers
colleges the ability to simplify their
IT structure and reduce associated
costs, allowing them to redeploy
their resources to handle the wave of
IoT technology.
Current legacy IT
systems cannot
withstand the deluge
Current college budgets fall short
in covering the costs of supporting
traditional IT legacy systems.
Funding for state-supported
schools is on average 23 percent
less per student than before the
2008 economic downturn.2
When
this funding is cut, colleges and
universities generally either cut
educational or other services, raise
tuitions to cover the gap, or both.
At the same time, students are
thinking twice about the cost-
benefit trade-off of pursuing a
higher education. Accenture’s
2014 Global Value of Higher
Education Survey found that
74 percent of college students
considered alternatives to a college
education and cited cost as a major
aspect of higher education that
needs improvement.
Financial constraints, along with
the demand for education through
technology, are realities that render
legacy IT systems unsustainable.
Maintaining the current systems will
only drive cost pressures and limit
an institution’s ability to deploy new
capabilities. Georgetown University’s
CIO, Lisa Davis, stressed the need for
IT to deliver, ensuring that it is “no
longer a service provider, but
a partner.”3
Look to students for
digital forecast
Digital transformation goes hand-in-
hand with cultural transformation.
Technology is disrupting the
traditional relationship among
educators and students. Students
no longer get their knowledge solely
through lectures and textbooks.
Instead, they increasingly rely on
the use of mobile devices, social
networking and sharing sites,
streaming media and digital texts
to learn. The rising wave of IoT
technology on campuses will only
exacerbate this changing atmosphere
in higher education.
The 2013 EDUCAUSE Centre of
Applied Research (ECAR) estimates
that new-age student brings up to
four internet-capable devices to the
classroom,4
along with expectations
on how and when they want to use
them. Students want to learn in new
ways and demand that universities
employ more digital tools for a more
enhanced and personalized learning
experience. Higher education
institutions can meet that demand
by moving to the cloud and freeing
up resources that can be poured into
preparing for the transformation
led by IOT that will alter how
students interact and communicate
with their educators.
“Students are carrying a cell
phone—many with two—a
tablet, and a laptop, and they
may be also using a campus
device at the same time.
Not only are we faced with
providing bandwidth to handle
all these devices but we are
challenged by the pure density
of devices on campus.”
—Butch Juelg, Associate
Vice Chancellor, Technology
Services, Lone Star
College System

3. Weather the storm by
moving to the cloud
In order to retain and recruit
students, higher education
institutions must position themselves
as experts in the learning network
and find more cost-effective ways
to implement IT services. It is time
to take the financial and structural
pressure off of college IT staff by
steering away from the burdensome
cost of maintenance and upgrades,
long lead times for infrastructure
improvements and incompatibilities
between systems and tools.
Moving a system to the cloud can
reduce the cost of ownership by
20 percent. Federal agencies have
already reduced their operating costs
by 30 percent.5
Colleges can expect
to see similar results. The cloud also
allows institutions to pay for what
they use versus building capacities
that are largely unexploited.
But the savings are more than
financial. IT departments gain
flexibility, agility and productivity,
and their staff become more
efficient and mobile. All of these
savings can then be used to develop
services and capabilities that support
colleges’ key mission to educate.
Not only can institutions meet the
digital demand, they will boost their
competitive edge in innovation.
Accenture’s education survey found
that 80 percent of students say
innovation is an important factor in
deciding what institution to attend.
However, only 13 percent of college
students believe their institution
provides appropriate digital
learning tools.6
Being at the cutting edge of campus
technology and having the capacity
to handle IoT will help colleges
develop better curriculum that
will, in turn, motivate and excite
students. Passive learning can
become active learning. In essence,
by removing typical IT constraints,
the cloud allows higher education
institutions to do what they do best
– teach. And that is good
for business.
The sky’s the limit
Despite the spread of digital, on-
demand learning tools, college is far
from being irrelevant. Accenture’s
education survey shows that 59
percent of students and recent
graduates pursue a higher education
to gain skills needed to get a job
after graduation.
The key is to recreate the college
experience by incorporating new
technologies. By harnessing the
power of cloud computing, colleges
and universities can spend more time
focusing on teaching and improving
higher education performance in the
digital age to deliver public service
for the future.

4. Copyright © 2015 Accenture
All rights reserved.
Accenture, its logo, and
High Performance Delivered
are trademarks of Accenture.
Reference
1. Gartner. 2013. “Gartner Says the Internet
of Things Installed Base Will Grow to 26
Billion Units By 2020.” Available online
at http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/
id/2636073.
2. Michael Mitchell, Vincent Palacios, and
Michael Leachman. 2014. “States Are Still
Funding Higher Education Below Pre-
Recession Levels.” Center on Budget and
Policy Priorities. Available online at http://
www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=4135.
3. Quoted in Michael Krigsman. Sept.
28, 2014. “Higher Education: Innovation
and Digital Transformation.” Available
online at http://www.zdnet.com/article/
higher-education-innovation-and-digital-
transformation/.
4. Quoted in The Consumerization of
Technology and the Bring-Your-Own-
Everything (BYOE) Era of Higher Education,
ECAR Research Report (http://www.
educause.edu/library/resources/byod-and-
consumerization-it-higher-education-
research-2013)
5. Accenture Federal Services, The Road
Ahead: Three Years After Cloud First.
6. Accenture. 2015. “Digital Business Era:
Stretch your Boundaries.”
About Delivering Public Service
for the Future
What does it take to deliver public service
for the future? Public service leaders must
embrace four structural shifts—advancing
toward personalized services, insight-driven
operations, a public entrepreneurship
mindset and a cross-agency commitment
to mission productivity. By making these
shifts, leaders can support flourishing
societies, safe, secure nations and economic
vitality for citizens in a digital world —
delivering public service for the future.
About Accenture
Accenture is a global management
consulting, technology services and
outsourcing company, with approximately
323,000 people serving clients in more
than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled
experience, comprehensive capabilities
across all industries and business functions,
and extensive research on the world’s
most successful companies, Accenture
collaborates with clients to help them
become high-performance businesses and
governments. The company generated net
revenues of US$30.0 billion for the fiscal
year ended Aug. 31, 2014. Its home page is
www.accenture.com.
For more information, contact:
Robert J. Friess
Managing Director
Health & Public Service – Education
Accenture North America
robert.j.friess@accenture.com
John Thompson Hass
Student Services Lead for Health &
Public Service
Accenture North America
john.thompson-haas@accenture.com
Connect with us to learn more on
delivering public service for the future on
Twitter@AccenturePubSvc.