The Cloud is any hosted application or service that is leased or purchased outside of the environment in which it is being utilized. For example, Google offers Cloud storage via Google Drive. A user can store all of their documents and pictures on Google’s Cloud, which means that the information is not hosted on the user’s own data center. Instead, it’s hosted by an array of data centers and is available at all times to the user.

With the Cloud, it’s not necessary for all users to have personal data centers. For school districts, there are now services available that provide Cloud-based data storage, applications and security. NEOnet offers districts the chance to store their information on NEOnet’s Cloud network.

NEOnet’s Cloud network benefits districts in a number of ways, including:

• Overall lower cost of ownership that allows a district to grow or even down-size as needed. If a school district was to purchase all the necessary equipment and the talent to support a data center, it would be much more expensive than leasing exactly what they need from NEOnet.
• Improved core competencies. NEOnet’s core competency revolves around technology hosting and network infrastructure. A school district’s core competency revolves around educating students. Districts can be confident that NEOnet’s knowledgeable team will help to improve student education through the use of technology.

Many school districts already use NEOnet’s Cloud services. If you look at the NEOnet Service Matrix, almost every service offered is a Cloud-based service. NEOnet now extends 30 different services to schools that demonstrate the comprehensive advantages of Cloud technology.

Although schools are heavily adopting free Cloud services like Google, they are often not comprehensive enough to eliminate the need for additional server resources. NEOnet can help bridge that gap by providing grow-as-needed hosted virtual servers in the consortium cloud and provide the value add of keeping the servers up to date in regards to patching and backups. This eliminates district hardware lifecycles, maintenance, training, additional staff and purchased services to support a district-owned data center, while leveraging the core competencies of NEOnet’s technical experts.

For more information on NEOnet’s Cloud network, contact Matt Gdovin by phone 330-926-3902 or by email gdovin@neonet.org.