College, Higher Education, Higher Learning

SaaS Solutions Provide Higher Education with Competitive Advantage

The World Economic Forum published their annual Global Competitiveness Report ranking The United States the 2nd most competitive economy in the world out of 137, which is its highest rating in 8 years. Higher education, job training, quality of companies, market size and technological capabilities all played a role.

The contributing factors that result in a competitive economy are in and of themselves competitive as the U.S. continues to foster a culture of innovation and opportunity for success. Higher education is a good example of this as colleges and universities seek to attract students who perform well and successfully land jobs, increasing their graduation and placement rates and thus repeating the cycle.

In order to attract prospective students, colleges employ multiple approaches, including offering financial incentives and scholarships to offset student costs, creating partnerships with businesses and organizations that allow for meaningful internships and project experience, and providing opportunities on-campus for meaningful experiences and connections. In addition, colleges and universities are becoming increasingly aware of the role of technology in creating competitive advantage in both their efforts to attract students as well as how they function internally.

From a recruiting standpoint, technology is being utilized in digital marketing efforts, social media, and by taking advantage of newer software that allows inquisitive prospects to take online campus tours. All of these SaaS solutions being leveraged in the attempt to attract and gain the interest of students.

Internally, it’s equally important that technology play a role in competitive market advantage by finding solutions that allow colleges and universities to streamline processes, operate more efficiently, reduce costs, and maintain privacy and compliance standards. One SaaS solution that addresses all these is the replacement of FTP systems with cloud storage and online file sharing.

Cloud storage and online file sharing allows university administration to store massive amounts of data in a safe and cost effective way. Solutions include cloud storage as well as on-premise solutions and even hybrids. This SaaS solution also addresses privacy and compliance standards, both domestically and for foreign exchange students while also centralizing oversight by allowing for easy management and control of user access and permissions that meet the specific needs and requirements of a school’s administration and staff. Further, integrations with other products and software generally greater provide ease of use.

Whether protecting student data, segregating department files, managing access, or complying with regulations, an online cloud storage and file management SaaS solution like SmartFile meets all these needs and more.

Check out our Education webpage to see what other universities have leveraged this business solution and find out more about how SmartFile can meet your specific needs.

SmartFile is a business file mangement platform that gives you more control, compliance and security.

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