Now is the time for IT modernization

Institutional continuity has never been so closely associated with accepting and driving change than it has over this past 18 months. Many institutions will emerge stronger than ever, and some will cease to exist.   

Prior to the onset of the pandemic, most institutions balanced their revenues and associated budgets with a short priority list of necessary new projects, keeping in mind technology and infrastructure needs. Some universities were undergoing a slow transition to close their self-managed, on-premises data centers, opting instead to move to cloud – but IT was just one line-item among many, and may have been put on the “back burner.” Many universities had the mindset of, “Everything works now, so we’ll maintain the status quo, and it will keep working.”

The pandemic changed both sides of the equation at the same time.

Revenues went from usual certainties or likelihoods to complete unknowns, as enrollment and admissions grew in uncertainty. New revenue models of in-person, online, and hybrid learning had vast differences, but were generally less profitable. The resulting downward pressure on budgets made the task of modernizing IT infrastructure all the more daunting for institutions.