There are many benefits of software as a service. You don’t have the overheads or the server infrastructure, the software development and maintenance costs and a number of other costs, plus you benefit from the vendors ongoing efforts to improve their platform and add new usable functionality. So, what possible downsides could there be?
Data Protection
Where using software as a service, the data is often still your school data with the school as the data controller. As such the responsibility for data protection remains with the school but this isnt matched by the control the school can bring to bear. Even after doing due diligence and reviewing terms and conditions, privacy, and data protection policies, etc, you are still reliant on the vendor doing what they say they are doing, and this isnt always the case. And the first time you are likely to know about an issue is when something goes wrong and it is too late, such as following a data breach or following identification of data being inappropriately shared.
Which functionality
Another potential issue with software as a service is that you are reliant on the vendors direction of travel in relation to their solution aligning with school needs. It wouldn’t be the first time that a vendor, including some large vendors who will remain nameless in this post, have decided that functionality they have provided or a solution they provide is no longer on their roadmap, and therefore will be removed. This is ok if your school doesn’t use that functionality or solution but if you do you suddenly find yourself needing to find an alternative solution when users may be quite happy with what they have.
When it goes down
Linked back to data protection and control, another area in relation to software as a service where a school lacks control is when things go wrong and the service either ceases to function or functions poorly or improperly. At this stage a schools only recourse is to raise the issue with the vendor and await a response. Sometimes this response will be quick and detailed however more than not it will be slow to arrive and lacking any detail. Now I get some of this in terms of dealing with software or hardware issues and needing time to investigate and being unable to provide a definitive timeline, etc, however communications matters and a quick status page update or a holding email never goes amiss. Sadly, more than not I have found myself, particularly with EdTech vendors, to be met with a wall of silence.
Exit strategies
And one big issue in my view, is often the lack of or near impossibility in some cases of an exit strategy. Ideally a company may change its functionality significantly, might cease to be a going concern or might suffer a significant issue or data breach, all requiring the school to exit and find another vendor. The challenge however is that some solutions such as the Management Information System or the Productivity Suite for example, are so engrained and part of the day-to-day operation of a school as to be very difficult to exit from. The change costs are massive and the new solution, being new, is a partially unknown quantity, and hence we stay where we are, until we can’t.
Conclusion
Software as a Service is the life blood of technology in schools as schools simply cannot support and manage on-site hosting and/or in-house solutions development. It offers so many benefits that enhance the learning experiences for students plus the efficiency of staff yet as with all things there is a balance. Very seldom is anything positive without any downsides.
Technology and Learning