Compared with the previous on-premises infrastructure, the AWS infrastructure supports SUSS’s mobile apps more effectively. The cloud solution is significantly more reliable, delivering 99.999 percent availability, so students have a seamless and robust online system that they can rely on. In addition, the responsiveness of the apps has improved significantly. “Students are no longer waiting as long as 10 seconds to access course materials through their apps,” says Lee. “Since we moved to AWS, that time has come down to a maximum of 3 seconds.” Since moving to the cloud, SUSS has been able to optimize its lean resources to effectively launch several new applications and major releases, while driving down infrastructure costs. Lee calculates that the university has saved 50 percent in terms of infrastructure costs by switching from on premises to the cloud. “The savings we make through AWS around infrastructure and personnel are plowed back into applications development,” says Lee. “This is why we believe that running our applications from the cloud is good news for the university and for our students.”