3 ways managed services can enhance campus IT

When choosing a college or university, in today’s highly competitive academic environment, students are looking for dependable, ubiquitous wireless connectivity.

The reliability of campus WiFi is a big concern, with 42% of students saying they’re dissatisfied with the quality of internet service on campus.¹

At the same time, campus IT departments have been tasked with implementing and supporting a growing number of technologies in an effort to develop the “smart campus.” There are systems for teaching and assessing, analyzing and reporting on student success, monitoring and securing campus facilities and more. Campus IT staff must make sure these various systems work together seamlessly in order to drive continuous improvement.

Managed services can empower IT staff to truly do more with less.

With each new system that is added, there is rarely a proportional increase in IT resources. The IT departments at many colleges and universities are chronically understaffed, and this affects their ability to integrate and support new technologies.

Managed services can help solve this challenge, empowering IT staff to truly do more with less.

With managed services, campus IT departments can keep up with rapidly evolving connectivity needs without investing in costly equipment that’s quickly obsolete. They can extend the capabilities of their IT staff, allowing team members to focus on more strategic priorities. And they can achieve predictable costs, making it easier to budget for IT needs.

Keep up with modern needs

Higher education bandwidth demands are rising exponentially as the number of
internet-connected devices and data-rich applications on campus multiplies.

To keep their institutions ahead of the curve, campus IT leaders must understand their own network demands and have a forward-looking plan for addressing them. Leaders also need to partner with a connectivity provider that can set up their college or university for success by offering opportunities to easily expand network capacity as demand rises.

88% of higher ed C-suite executives say they’re “very interested” in creating a more connected campus.²

A managed approach to network technology allows campus leaders to invest in a solution that matches their current demands but can easily expand to accommodate future requirements.

Instead of owning equipment that might become obsolete in a few years, leaders can be secure in the knowledge that they’ll always have access to the latest technology — and a solution that meets their exact needs at any given time.

Extend the capabilities of IT staff

Colleges and universities face many challenges in staffing their IT departments. Tight budgets frequently prevent them from hiring the full cadre of employees they need to support IT effectively. Even when they do add more staff, they’re often competing with the private sector for top talent, making recruitment and retention more difficult. In light of these challenges, campus IT departments often have trouble adequately meeting all their needs.

Managed network services can reduce the burden on overextended IT departments. With a managed solution, knowledgeable and highly qualified experts are available 24/7/365 to maintain, support and troubleshoot. This allows institutions to keep their networks running smoothly without having to commit their own IT personnel.

In fact, a managed solution allows colleges and universities to redeploy IT resources to address other strategic priorities they rarely have time for.

A growing number of colleges and universities are looking to managed network services as a solution to rapidly expanding connectivity needs.

Achieve predictable costs

Budgeting for technology is always a top challenge for colleges and universities. Taking a managed approach to network services can help campus leaders budget more effectively by trading unpredictable, intermittent IT expenses for fixed and regular monthly costs that are easier to plan around.

Traditionally, campus IT departments have purchased and installed network technologies through large capital expenditures. The downside to this approach is that strategic IT planning can become contingent on the availability of new funding. As a result, institutions might be stuck with outdated equipment until they can raise the new capital they need for a network refresh cycle.

51% of campus leaders say they’ve reduced costs through technology and automation.⁴

A managed services approach can support more stable and consistent IT budgeting. This helps campus IT leaders successfully predict and manage their network expenses, including the cost of routine maintenance. There are no more unpleasant surprises when a piece of equipment fails; no more scrambling to find the money to replace an aging router or wireless access point.

That’s good news for campus leaders who are increasingly worried about budgeting for connectivity and their network. Managed services not only reduce risk and increase budget stability; they can even shrink overall costs.

As colleges and universities struggle to balance their budgets, more and more are discovering that managed network services are the solution to rising network costs.

Managed solutions that meet campus needs

From flexible wide-area networks to wireless connectivity and multiple security options, Spectrum Business®, a part of Charter Communications, offers a wide range of managed solutions to help colleges and universities build and maintain a secure, reliable network infrastructure from a single, trusted provider.

Enterprise Network Edge
Improve the network experience for your teams with an enterprise-grade managed solution that brings together connectivity, equipment and network management to support both hybrid networks and workforces. Powered by Fortinet, the solution simplifies IT operations by providing networking with security features and optional integrated WiFi and switching in a multi-cloud-ready platform.

Managed Network Edge
Simplify the deployment and management of your network with this modular, all-in-one solution. Delivered over the Cisco Meraki platform, Managed Network Edge offers security features, routing, SD-WAN, WiFi, switching, smart cameras and environmental sensors. Achieve flexibility and scalability with connectivity, equipment and network management from a single partner.

Managed Router Service
Efficiently route traffic and improve bandwidth use without investing in hardware or day-to-day management.

DDoS Protection
Help guard against malicious volumetric attacks designed to overload your network and prevent access to applications, systems and information with fully managed distributed denial of service (DDoS) threat identification and mitigation.

Unified Communications
Answer communication and collaboration needs with a fully managed, cloud-based voice solution that brings together calling, messaging, meetings, virtual workspaces and more in a single application that delivers a unified experience for today’s mobile, on-the-go faculty, staff and student body.

Turn to a proven partner you can trust

Spectrum Business services give colleges and universities the flexibility to implement solutions that meet their evolving needs as they continue to innovate.

Learn how Spectrum Business can deliver a connected experience for your campus.

1. Mark McCormack, “2023 Students and Technology Report: Flexibility, Choice, and Equity in the Student Experience,” EDUCAUSE, August 28, 2023.
2. “The Accelerating Shift Toward the Connected Campus,” CBORD Insights, 2023.
3. “Higher Ed’s Hiring Challenges Are Getting Worse,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, March 2023.
4. “The Accelerating Shift Toward the Connected Campus,” CBORD Insights, 2023.025.