Acing the Exam: Proactive Data Management for Higher Education

Limited budgets make data storage challenging for colleges and universities worldwide. When all is said and done, diverting budget towards proactive data management and protection is often an afterthought, resulting in a strategy ill-equipped to handle the explosive growth of data-hungry use cases in today’s learning environments.  

Higher education organizations are tasked with the near impossible: provide more value for their students while reducing costs and maintaining a slim budget amid an increasingly hybrid environment. Educause’s proclamation from two years ago remains the North Star for IT in education: “Develop an IT support strategy that works in-person and virtually.” One thing is certain: you need storage for your data, which can be the bedrock for greater transformation within your campus infrastructure.  

Here are some things to keep in mind as you set out to ace the ultimate exam, a unified data management infrastructure that remains secure and effective for all challenges it may face in higher ed.   

 
1. Be vigilant with cost management because hidden fees can blow up your budget 

Cloud storage has been around for decades. If your team’s ability to track costs is becoming more difficult year after year, then you are not getting the service you deserve. Because of this, you are likely wasting valuable time and money that could be spent on other, more pressing areas of the technology stack.  

With Wasabi, you get unlimited API access and egress to your data, with the ability to test and perform restores at a moment’s notice, without the fees that hyperscale clouds typically charge.  

A recent IDC Business Value whitepaper highlights IDC analyst interviews with Wasabi customers that explore the impact of Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage in reducing annual storage costs, increasing the efficiency of storage management and administration teams, and enabling additional business growth. Several higher ed customers weighed in on the issues they face and how Wasabi is delivering value. 

“The cost compared to other cloud providers is multiple-fold lower. Wasabi also contractually guarantees us a 10Gb/s connectivity speed, coupled with unlimited download and upload…” -Higher education Wasabi customer, IBC BV report  

2. Know how your cloud provider manages security and compliance 

One of the key tenets of security for educators will continue to be the level of data security and safe preservation of student records. For any personally identifiable information (PII), the Wasabi cloud inherently provides protection, privacy, and integrity of these electronic records, helping institutions comply with the FERPA statute.  

The idea that data retention should be minimized to reduce the risk of ransomware or cyberattack is not always a viable strategy. This is especially true when massive amounts of data are needed to conform to retention mandates, and management of data in remote learning is critical to the success of higher education organizations.  

Creating systems that can grow unfettered and securely across dispersed areas while reducing the surface area of potential attacks with features like Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and Single Sign-On (SSO) will arm the organization with a greater level of security. Add Multi-User Authentication, an account security feature unique to Wasabi, for an even greater degree of security on top of your data security layer. Multi-User Authentication operates on the same logic as nuclear missile authorization, requiring two or more users to accept an account deletion.  

Wasabi ensures the physical security of its data centers, employs strong authentication and authorization controls to safeguard infrastructure and services, and encrypts data at rest and in transit to prevent unauthorized record disclosure. 

“Our organization substantially improved its disaster recovery process with Wasabi. We’ve seen great improvements in metrics such as RTO, backup time, and latency of both data upload and download.” -Higher education Wasabi customer, IBC BV report 

3. Expect that the environment will get harder and not easier to manage  

Being proactive about roles and permissions and getting ahead of problems before they crop up is the only way to undercut issues that stem from disorganized architectures. Disorganization is a fantastic breeding ground for any bad actor looking to exploit a system that is in disarray.  

Wasabi Account Control Manager helps you organize your cloud architecture and simplify provisioning and management of multiple storage accounts by gathering it all within one single pane of glass. Gain new insights into your storage usage and get costs under control with a top-down view of billing and sub-user storage throughout the entire system.  

“Our organization saw efficiency increase with the five-person team responsible for administration and management. Each team member saves around half a day, mainly from the reduced time required to ‘keep the lights on’.” -Higher education Wasabi customer, IBC BV report  

4. Supply your highest throughput departments with the best possible technology available  

Cutting-edge research demands highly available storage and high rates of latency does not foster a spirit of discovery. Provisioning the correct level of access at the right speed can mean all the difference for the success of a research-dependent organization. With guaranteed, high-bandwidth connections for the most data-hungry teams, or a backbone of guaranteed access for central IT, a private connection could solve many of your issues.  

On the flip side, you’ll want to ensure you’re not overprovisioning departments that do not need the same level of access as other, more demanding areas. Taking stock of the historical access patterns and internal requests through administration can uncover any gaps that can be resolved to save time or budget.  

"Wasabi has been extremely reliable for us, on top of storage cost reduction, business process improvements, and complexity reduction.” -Higher education Wasabi customer, IBC BV report 

Conclusion 

Only with a rigorous eye for detail and an unrelenting drive for a simpler and more predictable infrastructure will your higher ed organization be able to ensure data security and fiscally responsible growth amid an explosion of data and data use cases. Wasabi is a smart choice for educators looking to keep costs low without sacrificing what’s important: security, compliance, and accessibility.  

With top-down management tools like Wasabi Account Control Manager and optional data immutability with Wasabi Object Lock, colleges and universities are well positioned to take on a variety of challenges in IT at a fraction of traditional cost.