IBM’s latest cloud-based services could give university IT chiefs new ways to analyze student and institutional performance just months after a majority of higher-education respondents admitted confusion about what, exactly, cloud computing is.
The IBM SmartCloud for Education [1], announced by the company June 2, uses advanced predictive analysis software – known as SPSS – that would let campus IT officials identify at-risk students in real time, serving as a technological tool in battling decreasing retention rates in higher education.
The cloud computing program is also available for K-12 schools.
IBM’s SmartCloud also comes with a social networking feature that connects colleges and universities scouring the web for grants and funding opportunities that have proven vital as administrators trim operating budgets during the economic downturn.