Entering the Cloud

● Frankie Jackson - CTO and Assistant Superintendent,

Cypress Fairbanks ISD, RTSBO, CETL

● Bob Moore - Former CTO, Dallas ISD

● Ryan Gravette - Director of Technology, Idaho Digital

Learning

● Scott Gilhousen - Director of Infrastructure,

Engineering, and Operations, Houston ISD

AGENDA

8:00 - 9:20: Entering the Cloud - How 4 Technology

Leaders Approached the Challenge

9:20 - 9:30: Break

9:30 - 10:40: Your Challenge - Modified Consultancy

Protocol

10:40 - 11:00: What’s Next?

CoSN Cloud Initiative

● Resources for members

and community

● Go to cosn.org/cloud

● And check out our new

web based Guide to the

Cloud

Sponsored by: AWS, Google, Microsoft

Entering the Cloud

Presenters

• Frankie JacksonChief Technology Officer and Assistant Superintendent, Cypress Fairbanks ISD, RTSBO, CETL

FrankieJ.Jackson@cfisd.netBe the

District

that

Transforms

Education

LEAD in

Providing World-

Class

Technology

Services in K-12

SystemsWe Transform

Education

Serving as an

Education

Technology Leader

in K-12 education

technology for 24

yearsWWW.CFISD-TECHNOLOGYSERVICES.NET

STATISTICS

• 116K+ Students and 14,000 Employees

• Covering the Distance 200 Miles

• Funded by a $1.2 Billion Dollar Bond

Our Greatest Challenge?

Developing a strategic plan and upgrading the infrastructure before we could enter into the cloud

• Funded by our 2014 Bond ($90M)• Unique opportunity to overhaul the infrastructure• Had support from the Board, Sr. Leadership and Stakeholders• Had a leadership team that could make it happen• Used the CoSN Smart Education Network by Design blueprint

as a guideline and best practice

Our Cloud Journey

Funding Breakdown of the Bond

• The Design and Technology is Complex• Aligning the E-Rate Funding Opportunity with our Schedule• There Is No Time for Downtime• Finding Ways to Keep the Momentum Going

○ This has been a 5 year project• Managing Expectations

Obstacles to Overcome

• Continue to Move to the Cloud Where Appropriate

• Obtain the TLE Seal• Strive for

Performance Excellence Building World-Class K-12 Networks

What’s Next?

Embrace the CloudBob Moore

Former CTO Dallas ISD

30 years in EdTech

Dallas ISD Background

• 158,000 students

• 100% eligible for free breakfast and lunch.

• IT Division – 220 FTE + 35 Contractors

• Typical IT Operating Budget, Including Staff Salaries - $56M

• $100M Bond to be spent over at least 5 years

• IT had poor (even hostile) relations with other divisions.

• Little support from the Board of Trustees

Dallas ISD IT Background• Mostly redundant Fiber to all schools (long-term lease) RISKY

• Fiber to several “Fiber Hotels”

• 2 Internet PoPs

• 2 Data Centers, not fully redundant, servers and equipment in need of replacement, located in the same strike zone in VERY old buildings. SCARY

• Dozens of overlay IT management applications. COMPLEX operations and IT staff did not have technical skills, so mostly highly paid contractors ran Ops. FEDS ALSO

• Chaotic end-user device environment. Even teachers and principals were asking for more standardization. Device management sucked.

• IT leadership were mostly hostile to change and forward-thinking solutions.

• Some good staff, but a general sense of “hang on because this guy (the new CTO) will be gone in a couple of years.” MAYBE NEEDS TO GO NOW

So Many Opportunities – Actions taken• Standardized on Chromebooks and limited options on Mac and Win laptops, as wells as tablets.

• Adopted G Suite. Teachers and CAO called me a “hero” and IT thought I was a nut.

• Evaluated new SIS(PowerSchool) and decided to have it hosted and managed by PS.

• Gartner conducted an assessment of our data centers and produced a report detailing options and costs over 5 years.

• Rather than relocating one data center to a different strike zone and spending an estimated $12-$15M to replaced aging hardware and make them fully-redundant, convinced the superintendent and Chiefs why “Cloud” was the way to go. Board approved unanimously a 5 year funding authority AND we could buy off of state contract, rather than RFP or bid.

• With PowerSchool being hosted, cut 32 contractors who were dedicated to keeping the old SIS breathing.

• Teachers LOVED Chromebooks and we were able to reduce IT staff of less device management time. Also, fully implemented Microsoft’s System Center and got rid of 3rd party applications, allowing further IT Staff reductions.

• In April 2017 detailed discussions with Amazon Web Services were to began. NO COMPETITION

• Announced my resignation at end of school year, new COO took over IT. Reversed plans for moving data centers to cloud.

Why “Cloud” ?• Ensures physical security and better data security.

• Eliminates the need for 2 fully redundant data centers.

• Quickly provision “servers” and data storage capacity.

• Easy to create a test environment that is identical to the proposed production environment.

• Reduction in FTE of physical server management and data center FTE.

• Makes it much easier for operating divisions to switch to new solutions.

• Can leverage new technologies like micro-provisioning to lower costs.

• Data Analytics regarding solution usage, data tiering needs, etc. for cost savings.

“Cloud” for K12 - Challenges• Most people think cloud is less secure.

• School leaders fear lack of control and what the vendor is doing with their data.

• General lack of understanding of what IT actually does

• Switch from capital funds to operating funds is difficult.

• You will need to re-train staff or get new staff. Configuring and managing Cloud takes new, high-level technical skills. Managed Services are different.

• Resistance from traditional IT staff.

• Resistance from others because they have no clue what “Cloud” is. District technology leadership must be comfortable with explaining cloud in simple terms and then train IT staff to do the same

“Cloud” for K12 – Some Benefits• Ensures physical security and better data security.

• Eliminates the need for 2 fully redundant data centers.

• Quickly provision “servers” and data storage capacity.

• Easy to create a test environment that is identical to the proposed production environment.

• Reduction in FTE of physical server management and data center FTE.

• Makes it much easier for operating divisions to switch to new solutions.

• Can leverage new technologies like micro-provisioning to lower costs.

• Data Analytics regarding solution usage, data tiering needs, etc. for cost savings.

Bob Moore

bmoore229@gmail.com

Connect with me on LinkedIn.

Search “Bob Moore Dallas”

Twitter: @BobMEdTech

Idaho Digital LearningRyan Gravette

Director of Technology

Cloud JourneyCOSN 2018

Background

Idaho Digital Learning Background

Growth

High school students

take an IDL class

1 in 4

Motivating Factors

Summer of 2014 move● Aging equipment● Desire for environment flexibility● Integrity and Access

Elimination of a Data Center

Integrity and Access

● Democratization of solutions● Disaster Recovery● Availability● Scale

Enterprise class solutions had Enterprise costs

An opportunity to reinvent from the ground up with low risk

● Security● Network● Data● Replication and Load Balancing

Refactor

Cloud Journey

Identified a process with high value and low risk

● Security● Network● Data● Replication and Load Balancing

What does the cloud mean?

Identified a process with high value and low risk

● Website Hosting

Baby Steps - Rehost

34

Applications

Data

Runtime

Middleware

OS

Virtualization

Servers

Storage

Networking

Support

Training

Traditional IT

Applications

Data

Runtime

Middleware

OS

Virtualization

Servers

Storage

Networking

Support

Training

IaaS

Applications

Data

Runtime

Middleware

OS

Virtualization

Servers

Storage

Networking

Support

Training

PaaS

Applications

Data

Runtime

Middleware

OS

Virtualization

Servers

Storage

Networking

Support

Training

SaaS

IT Man

aged

IT Man

aged

IT Man

aged

Clo

ud

Pro

vider

Clo

ud

Pro

vider

IT M

anag

ed

Clo

ud

Pro

vider

Focus on Elimination of a Physical Presence● Security● Network● Data● Replication and Load Balancing

All in VM Migration - Rehost

ReThinking how compute works and the differences of the cloud

● Hours of Operation● Refactored Security Model● Reviewing Backups● Sizing for Need rather than

future● Region Change

Cloud Mentality Change - Rebuild

50%Cost Savings

Achievable Enterprise Class● DNS● NAT Gateway● Load Balancer

Leveraging Cloud SaaS - Replace

Developing Serverless Architecture● Link Checker and Machine Learning● CloudFormation Templates● No Server Maintenance● Infinitely Scalable● New models of Data Warehousing

Developing Cloud Native - ReBuild

THANK YOU

Ryan GravetteDirector of Technology

@IDLAGravette

Path to the CloudDate: March 12, 2018

Scott Gilhousen

Director of Infrastructure, Engineering and Operations

Houston Independent School District

HISD DEMOGRAPHICS AT-A-GLANCE

284SCHOOLS

LARGESTSCHOOL DISTRICT IN TEXAS

SEVENTHLARGEST IN THE UNITED STATES

HISD DEMOGRAPHICS AT-A-GLANCE

214,125STUDENTS

ABOUT100 LANGUAGES

SPOKEN

75% ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED

OUR GOAL IS FOR EVERY HISD STUDENT TO BE …

WHAT IS CLOUD COMPUTING?

Gartner defines Cloud Computing as a style of computing in which scalable and elastic IT-enabled capabilities are delivered

as a service using Internet technologies.

• SaaS: Software as a Service• PaaS: Platform as a Service• IaaS: Infrastructure as a Service

SOFTWARE AS A SERVICE (SaaS)

• Multi-Tenant Architecture

• Standard Features Set

• Digital Experience

• Reduction Of Capital Purchases

• Usage Based Pricing Model

• Security

• Examples are Google Apps for Education, Office 365, Edmodo, itslearning (LMS)

Applications

Data

Middleware

OS

Virtualization

Servers

Network

Storage

Runtime

HIS

D R

esp

on

sib

le

Pro

vid

er

Re

spo

nsi

ble

Security

PLATFORM AS A SERVICE (PaaS)

• Multi-Tenant Architecture

• Provider Responsibility

• Customer Responsibility

• Application Frameworks

• Use Cases

• Examples Are Google App Engine, Red Hat OpenShift

• Security

Applications

Middleware

OS

Virtualization

Servers

Network

Storage

Runtime

HIS

D R

esp

on

sib

le

Pro

vid

er

Re

spo

nsi

ble

Data

Security

INFRASTRUCTURE AS A SERVICE (IaaS)

• Flexible Cloud Computing Model

• Provider Responsibility

• Customer Responsibility

• Use Cases

• Examples are Amazon Web Services, Google Compute Engine, Microsoft Azure

• Security Share Responsibility

Applications

Middleware

OS

Virtualization

Servers

Network

Storage

Runtime

Pro

vid

er

Re

spo

nsi

ble

Pro

vid

er

Re

spo

nsi

ble

HIS

D R

esp

on

sib

le

Data

Security

WHAT CONCERNED US ABOUT THE CLOUD?

• Multi-Tenancy

• Data Security and Privacy

• Data Ownership

• Risk Management

• Shadow IT

• Budget Transition

• Resource Competency

• Vendor Lock-InTRUST ME...

WHERE WAS HISD FIVE YEARS AGO?

• Datacenter Environment

• Server Platforms

• Network

• Primary Storage

• Applications

- Email, Financial, Human Resources, SIS

• Staffing

WHAT ARE THE DRIVERS FOR HISD?

• Agility

• Scalability

• Data Center Consolidation

• Shift from Cap-Ex to Op-Ex

• Cost Transparency

• Availability

• Resource Management

• Security Monitoring

WHAT DID WE CONSIDER?

• Increased Bandwidth

• Network Performance

• Virtualized Infrastructure

• Assessed Application Readiness

• Performance Monitoring

WHERE IS HISD TODAY?

• Hybrid Cloud

• Network

• Virtualized Architecture

• Applications

• Primary Storage

• Datacenter Environment

• Staffing

THANK YOUDate: March 12, 2018

Scott Gilhousen

Director of Infrastructure, Engineering and Operations

Houston Independent School District

sgilhous@houstonisd.org

Your Challenge

Go to Padlet

http://bit.ly/2Dic72Y

Type in YOUR challenges to entering the cloud

Modified Consultancy Protocol

● Make sure each group has NO MORE than 4 people

● Choose someone to be time keeper

● Each person in group presents their challenge for up

to 5 minutes

● Other participants in group brainstorm solutions for 5

minutes

● Repeat with next person

What’s Next?

WHERE IS HISD GOING?

• Staff Investment

• Lift and Shift

• IaaS Functions

• Cloud Storage Gateways

• Data Center Consolidation

• Disaster Recovery Functionality

WHERE IS HISD GOING?

• Emerging Technologies

• Incident Management Communications

• Service Level Agreement Metrics

• Review Contracts

• Monitoring Tools

What’s Next – Bob Moore

● Get to know your network infrastructure. Ask for maps and an explanation of the

network from the company that built it.

● Ask for statistics for each leg of the network and at the PoP level so you know

how much capacity you have.

● Buy a Gartner Subscription. I know what you’re thinking, but you get what you

pay for. Junk = Free, Research-based, unbiased articles = Priceless

● Ask AWS to do a whiteboard session and to talk you through the options and

the commitment of resources from you.

● Identify possible applications that could be moved to SaaS or Managed SaaS.

● Prepare yourself for questions, criticism and reluctance.

● Educate executives and Board well in advance of when you seek approval.

Migrate and Extend - More Rebuild● Learning Record Store● EdFi Data Warehouse● Extend link checking● Transfer Databases to RDS

What’s Next