How Cloud ERP Can Aid Educational Practices
“Aimee Claire talks about how the same ERP (Enterprise Resource Management) programs that work for businesses can also work in educational practices.”
by Aimee Claire
It’s almost a given that kids are smarter than adults when it comes to adopting and using new technology. Whether it’s in the realm of gaming, writing and producing music, videos and films, or just knowing much more in general about the wired society through social media, kids always seem to have a head start. Once new technology and ideas are taught, they can ramp up their knowledge base with a few pad taps or mouse clicks.
So introducing them to ERP—Enterprise Resource Planning—could give them some major advantages in their educational development that could give those who are interested in developing careers in the IT industry a head start.
Introducing ERP for education
The complexities of running a school, college, or university lend themselves perfectly to using ERP. It is a software solution that integrates data sources from a range of departments where it is deployed to give managers a real time overview of what is happening, has happened, and needs to happen. Data inputted by one department—for example, administration looking at student attendance—can be seen instantly by those checking student achievement without the need for data to be updated by inputting for the individual department.
Instead of having to wait for reports to be produced, perhaps using classic paper and ink technology, there can be instant examination of data and trends by senior management, giving far more control over the enterprise and identifying weaknesses that can be addressed much more quickly. Not only is this good for the institution, it’s good for the students—especially those who can be identified as needing additional academic or pastoral support.
Head in the Cloud
It’s a classic expression for people whose minds seem to be elsewhere rather than focusing on what they should be. Yet it could easily become an expression of appreciation as the development of Cloud Technology, the provision of on-demand services through the Internet, is becoming a go-to Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution.
As with any technology, the more students understand what it can do, and do for them as well as the academic institution, the better equipped they are to move forward after their education to develop careers in IT. Even if they do not go into that industry, the benefits of Cloud ERP are rolled out across all industry sectors and they would be well positioned to take advantage of this with the knowledge base about ERP gained from their studies.
Kentucky Cloud
The state of Kentucky has rolled out its financial management system to Cloud ERP and considers it to be a real success in terms of making its services more reliable, as well as helping to reduce costs. The state’s associate commissioner for the Office of Knowledge, Information and Data Services, David Couch, said:
“Cost reductions are a benefit of cloud-computing, but for Kentucky schools, our primary driver was increasing the reliability of services beyond what our aging on-premise infrastructure could provide.”
As Cloud Computing develops further, there are many advantages that academic institutions could offer to their own infrastructure and to teach their students.