Education Management System to Choose: Cloud-Based or On-Premises?

Digitalization has brought a huge change in almost every sector and the education sector is one of them. Several institutes have been implementing the school management system or education ERP (Enterprise resource planning) software to manage their everyday activities, handle student data, conduct online exams, and various other tasks. Since so many types of ERP systems are available in the market with different features, benefits, and user interfaces, it might become difficult for education institutes to choose the right system to accomplish all their school management needs. Whatever system you choose; it must hold the capability of streamlining all the key operations of the institutes.

There are different types of education management systems offered by the vendors. These are available as:

  • On-premise solutions
  • Cloud-based systems

Difference Between On-Premise and Cloud based System

The key difference between the on-premise and the cloud ERP system is that the on-premise system is locally installed on the institute’s server and hardware. The system is usually handled and managed by the IT staff that works in the institute. On the other hand, the cloud ERP software, also termed SaaS (Software as a Service) is offered as a service to the users. In this type of system, the institute’s software and data are stored and managed on a central platform on the internet, known as the cloud. Only authorized users can access this system using a web browser on the internet. 

Which is better, on-premise ERP or cloud ERP system?

For institutes that deal with a large volume of data and perform multiple operations, a cloud server is a perfect choice for them as compared to the on-premise system. Below are some of the key reasons that suggest how cloud ERP system is better than on-premise system:

Cost-effectiveness

Institutes that use on-premise school management systems have to deal with huge investments in terms of buying, managing, and maintaining the entire system. The institutes have to appoint a dedicated IT team for the proper handling, repair, and maintenance of the system. All this leads to additional costs. 

With the help of a cloud school management system, education institutes can greatly reduce the institute’s cost. A cloud-based system generally involves a considerably low initial investment as compared to the on-premise system. Users just need to pay a subscription fee and they must have an internet connection to start using the cloud-based system. They can easily access the system via a web browser. The cloud server can host the whole software infrastructure of the educational institute. With cloud server software, institutes can be assured that all their systems are running smoothly without causing any distractions or disturbances to the users. Moreover, cloud software usually comes with a pay-as-you-go subscription model, allowing users to pay only for the number of days, weeks, months, or years they wish to use the cloud ERP system. This way, the institutes can easily plan their finances and maintain the required cash flow in the institute. 

Easy system upgrades

Based on the requirement, many education institutes keep on upgrading their system by adding new courses, subjects, or by increasing the number of enrolments for a particular course in the institute. Any additions introduced by the institutes, require the software system to increase the capacity of storing and managing a huge amount of data. Thus, these systems need better scalability. 

If we talk about an on-premise system, once it is implemented, it becomes difficult to perform any customization.  However, this is not the case with cloud ERP systems. Cloud-based systems are updated frequently by the vendor company with new product updates, hence allowing users to perform customizations in the system as and when required. 

Speed of deployment

Implementing an on-premises ERP solution is quite a tedious and time-consuming task. The entire deployment process requires proper planning and strategy. It may take about 12 months for being deployed in the institute. 

In the case of a cloud-based ERP system, the deployment is faster than an on-premises system. It takes around 3 to 6 months for the successful implementation and operation of this system. Moreover, the cloud-based solution does not require any hardware or heavy IT infrastructure to run your institute’s system. It can also be scaled easily without spending much time. 

Improved performance and accessibility

Cloud systems are designed with the capability of delivering superior performance and accessibility. It assures smooth functioning of the ERP system that is utilized by the education institutes to handle and manage all their operations. Institutes can even optimize this system as per their unique requirements. In case, there is an increase in the volume of data, the system automatically assigns itself additional resources to meet all the key requirements of the institutes. The same performance and features are hard to get with an on-premise school management software solution. 

The cloud-based ERP system is capable of receiving and storing a large volume of live data. This allows multiple users to access the same data at the same time and work together on it. 

Data Security

A cloud-based ERP system assures better data security as compared to an on-premise software solution. In today’s time, data security has become one of the key concerns of almost all businesses. Data security and safety need extra attention. This is perhaps the key reason why so many businesses are investing in cloud platforms that are implemented with advanced technology to ensure better safety and security of data. 

Conclusion:

All the above-mentioned reasons indicate that a cloud-based education management system is much better than an on-premises software system. If you are looking for an advanced cloud-based education management system, then you must connect with MyEdu which provides user-friendly web-based school management system software that ensures effective management of the institute’s day-to-day activities and operations.

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