Shifting Skill Sets

Cloud computing deployments require a different sort of IT expertise in academia.

Colleges and universities that plan to rely more on public cloud providers, especially for basic infrastructure needs, will probably need fewer operations people to maintain, patch and upgrade systems, White contends. But they will still require people with expertise in creating a catalog of cloud services, managing subscribers, brokering agreements with cloud providers and intervening when problems arise.

Teaching Innovation

At Harrisburg University of Science and Technology in Pennsylvania, the cloud touches nearly everything and everyone. All student accounts are maintained in a commercial cloud, as well as the ePortfolios students compile as they matriculate, says Dr. Eric Darr, executive vice president and provost. Because Harrisburg relies on a public cloud provider, Darr's five full-time IT staff and three student interns can focus on more important duties than infrastructure maintenance or data integration.

Reliance on the cloud also changes the kinds of employees Darr seeks, as well as the kinds of skills a technology-oriented institution promotes.

“We need people who can think creatively about what can be done with cloud computing," Darr says. "That puts a greater premium on system architects and business analysts – people who can think about not merely what data makes it into the cloud, but what apps or business processes don't have to reside within the walls of our university. Cloud computing requires a different way of thinking creatively and systematically.”

On the other hand, says Darr, it's less clear what skills the cloud makes obsolete. “We're still a ways off from being able to rely totally on software developed by others or apps you can put together like Legos.”

The Indiana University of Pennsylvania relies on a private cloud using virtualized machines to house its learning management systems and portions of its student information systems. Paul Grieggs, technical services manager at IUP, says the cloud is driving his technicians to develop so-called soft skills such as negotiation and service management.

Grieggs acknowledges that basic expertise is still required, especially for security. “None of that goes away with VMware or the cloud. But analysts now need to be able to think beyond their code set.”

He says cloud calls for staff to look outside their departments more than in the past, such as working with legal services when negotiating contracts or explaining to procurement what the services are and how IUP purchased them.

Grieggs says the adjustment from being hands-on to being a manager of other providers hasn't always been easy for staff. “Some people had difficulty making the transition to being a kind of middleman instead of the person doing everything,” he says. “Some folks would rather do it all themselves instead of coordinating vendors and others to get something done for them.”

More important, says Harrisburg's Darr, is that the cloud is changing how universities teach technology.

“As more and more businesses need people with computer science or information technology skills, they also need those professionals to have a sense of creativity and understanding of the business in a way traditional universities don't necessarily build into their curriculum,” he says. "The next generation of IT workers will need aspects of creativity, collaboration and business savvy.”