HBCUs in the Computing Clouds

I recently received an email from the CampusEAI Consortium informing me that its list of clients now included the following HBCUs: Spelman College, Hampton University, Tuskegee University, Xavier University, Virginia State University, Florida A&M University, and Albany State University. This represents a considerable expansion of HBCU participation beyond the following announcements that I had previously posted on the Gateway:

• CampusEAI Consortium Launches Cloud Computing Services -- Including Albany State myCampus Web 2.0 (March 2009)

• ALBANY STATE UNIVERSITY LAUNCHES MYCAMPUS, WEB 2.0 CAMPUS PORTAL (March 2009)

• FAMU EIT Receives 1.2 Million Grant Over Five Years from CampusEAI (April 2009)

That some HBCUs would be implementing cloud computing, a/k/a "Software as a Service", a/k/a "SaaS" was to be expected in the context of the unprecedented financial challenges to all HBCUs posed by the current Great Recession. Why? Because cloud computing holds the promise of providing far more cost-effective services for scarce IT dollars than traditional in-house IT services. Among other things, an HBCU doesn't require as large or as skilled an IT staff to manage applications that run "out there" somewhere in the cloud than on the HBCU's own servers.

Unfortunately the record shows that in times past, when faced with cost-effective IT innovations, too many HBCUs have attempted to carry on with their old "business as usual" technologies -- thereby widening the Digital Divide. So I am greatly encouraged by this surge of interest in cloud computing -- which is all the more timely in the context of Google's recent announcement that it will soon produce "Chrome OS", a cloud-based operating system that will directly challenge Microsoft's monopoly on the desktop. Although Microsoft has faced down other cloud-based challengers in the past, none had Google's formidable financial resources nor its talented army of high-tech wizards.

CampusEAI's seven clients have staked leadership positions with respect to one of the most powerful Internet technologies to emerge within the last two decades. As per my previous blog -- Why are HBCUs still needed? Part II -- their diversity demonstrates the capacity of the HBCU community to serve as a national higher education laboratory. Four are private; three are public; they are located in five states; and their enrollments range from around 2,400 to 9,500 students.

At this point, interested bystanders hoping to learn from their experience should be asking themselves: Why did these HBCUs agree to try cloud computing? Which other HBCUs approached by CampusEAI declined to participate and why did they decline? As time goes on, we will also be watching to learn which of these pioneers were successful, which weren't successful, why, and why not?