Workday Student: The Cloud

Workday Student is a cloud-based, software-as-a-service system, meaning it is hosted on Workday’s servers and accessed over the internet via web browser or app. LSU will receive regular updates and improvements to functionality and data protection from Workday, as we do for our existing Workday system. Unlike LSU’s current mainframe student information system, which was built by LSU staff and is hosted on LSU servers, Workday Student is regularly updated and maintained by the vendor. This promotes consistency and keeps data secure.

A cloud-based student information system solution provides several benefits:

• Our students expect modern, high-performing systems that work well on a mobile device. With Workday Student, our students will be able to virtually manage their academic experience from any device with an internet connection.
• Workday releases new functionality from the cloud every six months. LSU will always be operating on the latest version of the system and will receive continuous improvements to functionality and user experience.
• Student data stored remotely with Workday will be secure and will position LSU to continue critical operations and recover from unexpected challenges, such as power outages.
• Cloud-based systems better support the ever-growing amount of information that universities need to store. The move to Workday Student removes the need to expand the physical space for data centers and infrastructure (servers and other hardware) to match rapid increases in the amount of data we create and store.

LSU’s current mainframe student information system was built nearly 40 years ago using technology that is no longer taught as standard practice, making it difficult to find programmers who can work with our system. This poses issues with both maintenance and modernization to keep up with rapidly evolving academic needs. Moving to Workday Student as a cloud-based solution will address many of these needs.