Mini Series: Ep#4 Conversations in Higher Education with Patrick Frontiera, AWS - EDUCAUSE 2025

Conversations in Higher Education explores the critical challenges and innovations shaping the future of colleges and universities through candid discussions with leaders on the front lines of transformation. In this episode, Patrick Frontiera from AWS discusses what comes after migrating student information systems to SaaS, how institutions can complete their digital transformation journey, and the strategic opportunities available when modernizing to the cloud.Welcome to Conversations in Higher Education! 🎓Recorded live at EDUCAUSE 2025 in Nashville, this episode features Patrick Frontiera from AWS discussing the critical next steps after institutions migrate their student information systems to SaaS platforms.In this episode, Patrick discusses:✅ What to do with the rest of your data center after SIS migration✅ Common concerns and opportunities in post-SaaS environments✅ How AWS helps with core administration system modernization✅ Lift and shift vs. full transformation: choosing the right path✅ The importance of data modernization for AI capabilities✅ People and culture change: the #1 challenge in cloud adoption✅ Upskilling IT teams for a cloud-native mindset✅ Cost efficiency and operational benefits of full cloud migration✅ How AI capabilities accelerate when your data is in AWS✅ The value of partnering with experts like RackspacePatrick explains how moving to SaaS is often just the catalyst for a complete digital transformation—one that frees up institutional resources for innovation, enables better stakeholder value delivery, and positions institutions to leverage enterprise-scale AI.Recorded at EDUCAUSE 2025 in Nashville, TennesseeGuest: Patrick Frontiera, AWSHost: Jon Myer, Rackspace Technology - Myer Media#HigherEducation #EdTech #EDUCAUSE #CloudMigration #DigitalTransformation #AWS #SaaS #StudentInformationSystem #CloudNative #aiineducation YouTube Timeline0:00 - Welcome & Introduction from EDUCAUSE 20250:29 - Topic: We moved our SIS to SaaS, now what?0:54 - Common concerns after migrating to SaaS platforms1:54 - Reducing hybrid model costs: physical and operational2:52 - How AWS helps with core administration system modernization4:02 - Lift and shift as a stepping stone to full modernization5:02 - Next steps in the digital transformation journey6:17 - Understanding where you are on the transformation timeline7:09 - Common challenges when moving fully to the cloud8:45 - Cloud transformation mindset: different from traditional IT9:19 - AI capabilities and the AWS AI stack9:57 - The value of partnering with experts like Rackspace10:29 - Closing thoughts & thank you🔔 Don't forget to Like, Subscribe, and hit the notification 🔔 ✔ Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/jonmyer/?sub_confirmation=1📱 Social Media Twitter: https://twitter.com/_JonMyerWebsite: https://jonmyer.comLinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-myer/Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0wjJzdIwctq4o4pTXM2KSFLike my sounds? Here's my audio source: https://www.epidemicsound.com/referral/fj9o9k#aws #awscloud #podcast #podcasting #costoptimization #finops #cloudcost #cloudoptimization