Universities’ adoption of cloud-based systems signals a new era of education, said a panel of experts during a session, held in partnership with CirrusHQ, at the 2025 THE Digital Universities UK 2025 event.
Chris Youles, higher education lead in the global education team at Amazon Web Services (AWS), said that over the next few years, technology will help solve some of the significant challenges across teaching, learning, administration and research. Youles, who has previously worked as the chief information officer at several UK universities, said that he continues to work with higher education institutions because of the size and scale of the challenges and opportunities in the sector.
Institutions are currently grappling with issues such as a proliferation of technological tools, unpredictable software licensing costs and changes in students’ learning preferences. Distance learning and the Covid-19 pandemic have accelerated an attitude shift within the academic community, where many students prefer to watch a lecture online before they go on campus and use their in-person time to collaborate with their peers and tutors.
To accommodate this, universities need to make sure that academic content is media-rich, engaging and gives students the right information, Youles said. The content must be evaluated with learning analytics tools to make sure it has the right impact. Student welfare also needs to be monitored to optimise the student experience. “Whether they’re on or off campus, they need to be supported. Technology can play a significant part in that,” he added.
Youles highlighted the pressure universities face to improve efficiency while reducing costs. AWS works with its partners such as CirrusHQ to help universities understand how technology can support them in meeting their goals. Stephen Croke, chief revenue officer at CirrusHQ, said that a strong, collaborative working relationship is essential to building successful partnerships with universities. Rather than just implementing off-the-shelf technological solutions, universities want to collaborate on their digital transformation journey in line with their needs, he said.
It’s also important to identify when technology isn’t necessary, the speakers suggested. While there is a current trend towards integrating generative AI into systems, this is only necessary if it solves challenges at a strategic level.
The session also highlighted Teesside University’s successful digital transformation through the integration of cloud-based systems. Croke said that Teesside partnered with CirrusHQ and AWS with the aim of completely changing its academic delivery model. The university wanted to remove the need for students to go on campus and enable them to engage with their programmes at their own pace.
Focusing on computer-aided design and interactive gaming courses, CirrusHQ and AWS supported the university in building a virtualised application stream solution that shifted high-demand computing resources off campus and into a streaming environment. The new system also provided a secondary benefit of improving sustainability through reduced power consumption and cooling costs, Croke said. This model has since been applied across more courses and to Teesside University’s new campus in London.
The panel:
- Stephen Croke, chief revenue officer, CirrusHQ
- Craig Ridsdill, head of sales, CirrusHQ
- Chris Youles, higher education lead, global education, Amazon Web Services
Find out more about CirrusHQ.
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