Higher Education IT Priorities: Focusing On Data Protection

Data security is becoming a more important priority for institutions of higher education, according to the fifth annual EDUCAUSE Current IT Issues Survey. Secondary storage has its own place high on the list of priorities.

Secondary storage includes storage hardware (tape drives, libraries, and sometimes disk), encryption appliances, and backup and disaster recovery software. This white paper evaluates secondary storage as it relates to IT priorities in higher education. The priorities, which are listed below, summarize the results of the higher education IT survey. More than half directly affect secondary storage, including these priorities: disaster recovery and organizational continuance, limited funding, converging technologies, and strategic planning.