Top Five Reasons to Optimise Google Cloud Technology Within Education

Google Cloud’s continually growing network connects its infrastructure globally through more than 3.2 million kilometres of terrestrial and subsea fibre, offering a reach ten times greater than that of the next leading cloud provider.

However, the scale of Google’s network is not the only reason schools are deploying cloud computing; educational institutions also appreciate the data security, backup and recovery, analytics, collaboration features, and cost savings. Google Cloud technology capitalises on Google’s advanced AI algorithms and machine learning models to analyse data, automate tasks, elevate staff productivity and personalise learning.

Maximise Data Security With Google’s Cloud Infrastructure

Moving from on-premises servers to Google’s cloud system often results in enhanced physical security systems. Google Cloud’s data centres have biometric access control and 24/7 surveillance, alongside encryption and intrusion detection systems. Moreover, a team of security experts is constantly monitoring Google Cloud’s data centres for potential threats. Google's cloud computing platform is compliant with a variety of industry standards, such as ISO 27001 and SOC 2.

Count on reliable backup and recovery

Google Cloud Storage provides a reliable backup solution for schools’ systems, protecting data, teaching resources, and other key files in the event of a data breach. Google employs robust data protection measures to ensure comprehensive data backup and recovery. One key strategy is data replication across multiple locations, ensuring that copies of data are stored in multiple geographic regions. This redundancy 

mechanism safeguards against data loss in the event of hardware failures, natural 

disasters, or other disruptions. By utilising these measures, Google ensures the reliability and integrity of stored data.

Another critical system is Google Vault. Google Vault is an information governance and eDiscovery tool for Google Workspace. Configuring Google Vault retention rules improves how IT administrators can retain, hold, search, and export users’ Google Workspace data. While Google Vault does enable data exports, it's designed as a retention tool rather than a comprehensive backup solution. As such, using third-party backup and sync tools is recommended to meet the Department for Education (DfE) digital and technology standards in schools and colleges.

Future proof learning with enhanced collaboration

Google Workspace for Education accounts make it easy for students and educators to collaborate on projects in real-time and learn from anywhere that has an internet connection. IT administrators can confine Google Drive sharing within the boundary of the institution domain or allow external sharing. Target audiences (available with Education Plus and Education Standard licences) provide users with another way to share their items, in addition to sharing with the entire organisation or sharing directly with users or groups.

Alternatively, with trust rules (available with Education Plus and Education Standard licences), IT administrators can create granular policies to control who can gain access to Google Drive files. Trust rule policies specify which users’ files can be shared, a users' ability to receive shared files, and the ability to add users and files to Shared Drives. Trust rules can apply to individual users, groups, organisational units, and domains. Trust rules provide flexibility in establishing collaboration boundaries, which helps education institutions secure sensitive information and maintain compliance with industry standards and regulations.

Furthermore, administrators can create labels to apply to files stored in Drive (available with Education Plus and Education Standard licences). Drive labels are metadata that help organisations organise, find, and apply policies to files in Drive. Drive labels are useful for classifying content to follow an information governance strategy such as labelling sensitive information, as well as applying policies and improving file retrieval.

Establishing a digital ecosystem is extremely valuable within a multi-academy trust environment as it means staff instantly have access to colleagues and support from across a number of other schools. A teacher at LEO Academy Trust, a Google Reference School, summarises the collaboration impact of Google Workspace for Education as follows:

"We were no longer an isolated school - it meant that we could be part of shared planning. It was all on Google Drive, so we saw an instant workload reduction as well as being able to feel part of a supportive wider team.”

Save extensive costs with reduced printing, infrastructure & software expenses

Google Cloud Storage is a cost-effective way for educational institutions to store and manage their data, eliminating the need for expensive on-premises infrastructure. Cost savings are generated by reducing hardware, software, and maintenance costs. A cloud-first approach to systems and processes ensures that resources are used to maximise pupil outcomes and opportunities. For LEO Academy Trust, moving to cloud computing with Chromebooks meant that:

"The reduction in worksheet printing and number of exercise books saves approximately 400 trees per year with a trust-wide saving of around £78 per child per year (just over half the cost of the Chromebook provision).”

Spend 98% less time addressing phishing attacks

Quickly prevent, detect and remediate security incidents with the investigation tool. Email filtering in Education Plus drives down IT labour so staff can focus on optimisation instead of obstacles.

Save 300 hours yearly on administrative tasks

Education Plus helps administrators quickly complete tasks like e-record requests with the investigation tool and Vault.

Streamline collaboration to save $368K on average

With Education Plus, tools seamlessly work together to connect students and educators, enhancing learning experiences with premium features in Google Classroom, Meet and more.

Google for Education’s return on investment calculator helps education institutions calculate the impact Education Plus could have on their organisation’s budget and function. 

Increase data visibility, analytics, & remediation opportunities

Google Analytics for Education provides insights into how students and educators are using Google Workspace, helping IT managers identify areas for improvement.

There are various Google Admin Console storage management tools, reports, and logs to understand institutions’ storage usage. For example, the user report visualises the total Drive storage used by specific users. IT administrators can then set storage limits for specific users and shared drives to manage how pooled storage is allocated within a domain. The file exposure report from the security dashboard visualises external file sharing metrics for a domain, such as the number of external sharing events and the number of views an external file received over a specific time period. Education Plus and Standard Google Cloud Storage reports help IT administrators improve data protection and sharing policies. With Education Plus admins can visualise storage usage, including by service by exporting report data to BigQuery. 

BigQuery, a cloud-based data warehouse, allows IT managers to visualise and analyse large datasets. By leveraging machine learning and built-in data governance BigQuery can uncover trends, patterns, and anomalies in data. BigQuery has data integration from various Google Workspace for Education applications, such as Gmail, Calendar, Classroom, and Drive. It is available with Education Plus and Standard licences, providing valuable insights into user activity, collaboration patterns, and resource utilisation.

Discover more with Google for Education’s webinar series

Leveraging Google Cloud storage goes far beyond accessing Google’s extensive cloud network. Deploying Google Cloud technology enhances data security, improves backup and recovery, promotes collaboration, optimises IT budgets and transforms data analytics. Ultimately, Google Workspace for Education creates a more conducive learning environment for students and educators. 

Watch the Product Training Series: bit.ly/product-training-series