How Schools can Ease IT Burden With Streamlined Cloud Video for Campus Security 

School IT teams play a central role in campus safety, operational efficiency, and the technological security of students and staff. As threats grow both digitally and physically, many schools have begun to modernize their video surveillance infrastructure. However, for IT departments, every new system brought into campus networks must not only enhance security but also minimize complexity to reduce strain on teams. 

To accommodate the need for a complete surveillance solution in the form of an easy-to-use, cybersecure platform, schools can leverage cloud video security. A secure, easy-to-manage cloud video surveillance platform empowers IT teams to do more while spending less resources. 

In this article, we explore how cloud video solutions can help educational institutions reduce IT workload, strengthen data protection, and deliver seamless, reliable security across campuses. 

IT Education Hurdles: How Tech Burden Limits Efficiency 

The education industry is experiencing nationwide IT professional shortages due to low job satisfaction. The reasons are multifaceted but can be traced back to the sheer number of responsibilities these teams are expected to manage and the limited support they receive. The accumulation of demanding tasks, in addition to existing responsibilities, has contributed to a high incidence of burnout among IT professionals. Some of these tasks include: 

• Managing Cybersecurity Across Systems: Protecting sensitive student and faculty information requires constant vigilance, particularly as new devices and applications are added to the network. 

• Maintaining Security Assets: IT must ensure the ongoing, optimal performance of video surveillance devices, software, and other connected security systems. 

• Assisting With Recursive Tasks: Routine issues—like lost password resets and end user troubleshooting—consume valuable IT hours. 

When implementing new surveillance solutions, IT teams need a platform that can offer robust security features to reduce vulnerabilities, health monitoring features to streamline maintenance, and a user-friendly interface so all team members can easily operate the system without constant IT intervention. Without these elements, the adoption of new technology risks undermining security and increasing the daily workload for IT staff. 

Reduce IT Strain with a Secure, Easy-to-Use Cloud Video Solution 

A secure cloud video solution equipped with cybersecurity best practices can not only limit the burden associated with network security tied to video, but it can also enhance and reduce unnecessary IT labor by providing insights into system functionality and software updates. 

Additionally, a remote solution should be easy enough to use, so recursive tasks, such as resetting passwords or user provisioning, can be handled via powerful tools with little or no involvement from IT. 

We’ll explore how a secure cloud video solution can limit the IT burden in several ways, including: 

• Enhanced Cybersecurity: Reduce risk with features such as identity management, operational audits, and automated updates. 

• Insight Into Functionality: Receive alerts and reports to quickly identify and resolve issues before they disrupt safety or learning. 

• Ease of Use: Empower HR, administrators, and security teams to operate and manage video systems with minimal ongoing IT support. 

Fortify Cybersecurity to Protect Student Data 

Cybersecurity—and the risks that threaten it—is a common concern for many campus IT teams. If implemented software and hardware lack the resources needed to keep each solution safe, that threatens student and faculty information. Prioritizing a video surveillance solution that allows you to deploy security best practices is one way to lower the burden of managing cybersecurity across systems. 

 Features should include: 

• User Management: Quickly add, modify, or revoke access as staffing changes, without manual intervention for each device. 

• Identity Management: Integrate seamlessly with existing directory services, ensuring only authorized personnel can access sensitive video data. 

• Operational Audits: Track and report user activity for better peace of mind. 

• Automated Software Updates: Ensure every device stays protected with the latest firmware, bug fixes, and security enhancements—remotely and without downtime. 

A cloud video solution equipped with these features helps IT teams enforce strict access policies and maintain system security, even as devices and staff change. This reduces the likelihood of gaps in defense, while also lowering the amount of work needed from IT. 

Optimize Operations to Reduce Unnecessary Labor 

To better maintain assets and ensure system and device functionality, IT teams can leverage cloud video to their advantage. A complete solution can offer insights into system functionality and take additional burden off IT teams via centralized cloud management, helping reduce labor while ensuring IT teams have complete visibility. 

With remote access thanks to the cloud, problems with the system can be diagnosed from anywhere. This allows IT to plan accordingly for any problem they must physically go to and, in some cases, may enable them to solve the issue completely remotely. For example, if a camera or recorder isn’t functioning due to outdated software, the update can be pushed remotely, limiting the need for a tech to be onsite at all. 

Automated health monitoring in a cloud video platform offers a range of tools to support IT departments. Alerts both help identify when something is affecting the ability of hardware to capture/record video and can notify staff if a device is falling below storage retention requirements, enabling IT teams to take proactive measures before problems impact learning or campus safety. 

System summary and inventory reports provide total visibility into system performance with summaries of health data, listed cameras and recorders, software or firmware version, and more. Additionally, day/night reports provide an easy way to visually ensure cameras are functioning as intended by providing images taken by cameras at set times of the day, ensuring there have been no significant changes in field of view. As a result of these features, IT can spend less time on troubleshooting and more time on strategic security enhancements. 

Experience Ease of Use to Improve Faculty System Usage 

Software that’s user-friendly helps reduce unnecessary burden on IT by offboarding redundant or recursive tasks and empowering other members of the organization to handle these functions. Whether it’s resetting a forgotten password or easy navigation between integrated platforms, a complete cloud video solution should offer: 

• Remote Access: Authorized faculty and administrators can securely view live and recorded footage and access their profiles from anywhere, regardless of device—eliminating unnecessary IT assistance. 

• Single-Sign On (SSO): Users can log in with their existing school credentials via SSO, reducing password fatigue and enforcing more secure access based on user roles. 

• Automated Password Reset: If a member of faculty loses their password, they can securely reset credentials without IT intervention. 

By eliminating these recursive tasks, cloud video solutions enable IT teams to focus more on driving operational efficiencies throughout their educational institutions, while also empowering other teams to leverage video security more easily and effectively. 

Incorporate a Streamlined Cloud Video Solution for Reduced IT Burden 

Choosing the right cloud video solution will not only benefit the physical security of your school but will also ensure your surveillance system’s data is protected and student’s information is secure, all while lessening the burden on IT. By reducing the workload strain IT teams are all too used to, these departments can be freed up to discover better efficiencies for the school, in turn creating more secure, and thus more positive, learning environments. 

OpenEye’s cloud video surveillance platform is trusted by educational institutions across the country for its proven ability to reduce IT burden and support campus safety. OpenEye Web Services (OWS) gives IT teams the tools and features needed to deploy our best-in-class, cloud-managed video surveillance solution without compromising school network security. OWS also helps enhance IT operations through convenient features, including centralized management and health monitoring, while providing a user-friendly platform so other departments can easily leverage intelligent surveillance capabilities. 

To see how you can modernize your school’s security infrastructure while empowering IT processes, book an OpenEye demo today.