THOUGHT LEADER
Cloud Computing & the School Bus Industry
Written by David L. Hopper
S
o, what’s up with all of this cloud computing busi- ness? We’ve heard all about the Microsoft Cloud, IBM Cloud, Google Cloud and many others. What does all of this mean for school transpor-
tation? Are we in for a storm? No. No storm. But we do have some opportunities. Most of us already have an ISP (internet service pro-
vider) and a web-hosting service. This ISP connects our offices to the internet, while the web hosting service provides space on the internet where our web pages are stored. People worldwide—including parents, students, drivers, employees and hackers—have their own internet connections and thereby the option to connect with us via our website. As you would expect, the cloud is really a sort of Big
Brother to a hosting site. However, it is not primarily just a space to store your web pages. It is instead an entire computing environment. Your cloud site will, in fact, frequently be referred to as a virtual computer. A web page primarily provides information to a
visitor but collects very little (if any) information from a visitor. The most data processing that is conducted by web pages is typically the creation of one comput- er record. For example, a customer order for a list of products that are selected at check-out time, or simply a request for information. By contrast, a cloud-based virtual computer will
typically do anything and everything that is needed to replace the main-frame computer that was previously used to run the district or the bus company.
Key Features of a Cloud-Based Virtual Computer • The entire enterprise database is located on the virtual server.
24 School Transportation News • SEPTEMBER 2019
• All users, not just public users, will be connecting via the internet. Route planners, stock room clerks, dispatchers, HR personnel, mechanics, etc.
•
Security will remain a major concern. We’ll be de- pendent on the cloud company security personnel but they have dedicated pros. And remember, our old in-house main-frame was/is connected to the internet, so it is therefore vulnerable to attack. Plus, our data-center probably does not have dedi- cated full-time security pros.
In almost every instance, the cost to operate using a
cloud service will be significantly less than the cost of operating an in-house data center. For many enterprises that are migrating their IT to the
cloud, the first step is to set-up document management systems, or DMS. While operational systems have long been successful, the other data-processing challenge to paperwork has never been adequately conquered. In other words, most entities have disciplined inventory control, purchasing, scheduling, accounting, and other data-processing systems. But few have good control over supplier/ customer/union contracts, employee reviews, signed vehicle inspection reports, incident reports and a multi- tude of others. When you also take into account student photographs and IDs, downloadable device-ready GPS route defini- tions, spreadsheets, and other computer documents, few CIOs (chief information officers) will assert they have it under control. These document management deficiencies persist,
despite decades of efforts. We have file-sharing devices on our local area networks, and even on many wide-area
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