Not only do multi-tenant environments impact the user experience, but they also contribute to reduced capacity for IT teams and MSPs. Multi-tenant environments usually create more endpoints and variables for IT staff to handle. Too many variables at play mean that staff must spend more time and effort tracking down users and data or solving issues, which reduces efficiency and drives up cost. In today’s modern learning landscape, schools simply can’t afford not to migrate to a single-tenant scenario.
Driving productivity and value for schools
Considering the challenges that fractured environments pose for schools and universities, migrating to a single tenant approach is a strong antidote. Consolidating tenants is a significant driver of better collaboration and productivity among different schools, departments, faculty, and students. In a single-tenant environment, users can collaborate seamlessly and access the people and information they need to be productive and enables them to leverage their resources more effectively.
- Enhanced communication and collaboration. Operating within a single tenant improves collaboration and communication by allowing professors to set up shared environments for projects, class discussions and data sharing. Communication between students and instructors on a single tenant is often easier, too. Office hours, tutorials, seminars, and labs are quick to set up and manage when each user has the right level of access.
- Improved data management. For users, multi-tenant scenarios can make it challenging to pin down a central login which leads to confusion. On top of that, multiple logins make data storage and organization messy. Users might not be able to locate data or manage how it is stored and shared. With a singular place from which to share and manage files, users will know exactly where to go to find their data.
- Cost savings for institutions. Consolidation also leads to better cost management and seamless engagement between tenants. By migrating to a single-tenant environment, schools and universities can eliminate duplicative or underutilized systems and cut down on legwork that their IT staff needs to do to keep things running smoothly–bringing down their overall IT spend.
Best practices for migrating to single tenant
Migrations are a high-stakes endeavor and proper planning, knowledge, and teamwork are required. IT teams and MSPs supporting schools with migrations to single-tenant operations will want to be mindful of several best practices when it comes to migrating to a single-tenant environment. A good place to start is to develop a checklist of tasks to execute when merging or consolidating clients to ensure the project goes off without a hitch.
As part of the planning phase, tech support staff should take stock of how many users they need to migrate, if the school needs to accommodate remote students or instructors, whether the school’s the domain name will change, which data needs to migrate and if any should be archived. Each of these factors will play into the overall timeline and schedule for the migration.
Another important task is to confirm if licenses are correctly accounted for and if applications are deployed to end users the right way. This can prevent schools from paying for applications and software that they don’t use often or at all.
People and culture are just as important as the actual migration, so aim to create a foundation for success with people in mind. I recommend getting superintendent, school board or board-level buy-in for how you will go about the migration. Since the overall success of the migration hinges on building skills and capabilities, consider implementing a training plan to help users get familiar with any new processes and capabilities you’ll be rolling out.
Consider the right timing for a migration
With a lot riding on the success of a migration, determining the best time to execute IT housekeeping and tenant consolidation is essential. Organizations need to evaluate their schedules and identify when a technology overhaul is appropriate for their faculty and students.
Migrations are easiest to facilitate when there is ample down time, so the process won’t be rushed. In addition, the reduced user demand will prevent a major disruption during the migration process. Long breaks such as end-of-year holidays or the summer months are probably the best choice. Either way, making the transition sooner rather than later will ensure universities can reap the benefits of a consolidated tech environment as quickly as possible.
Brad Rosairo is BitTitan’s director of business development in the Asia Pacific and works to drive brand awareness and develop strategic channel and direct sales initiatives for the company in the APAC region. A seasoned sales professional with executive management experience, Brad has more than twenty years of background in executive business development.
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