A Review of Cloud Computing Capabilities Towards Building Virtual Learning Centres.
Attlee Munyaradzi Gamundani, Deada O. Kandjii · 2016
The growth of Institutions beyond physical structures is no longer a new phenomenon. The enabling environment being presented with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is taking on greater importance for bringing a lot of benefits to educational institutions such as universities. The benefits ICTs brings include increasing productivity, improving competence, providing better services and knowledge sharing, increasing competitiveness and reducing costs. As the demand for efficiency and competence increases, so does the ICT world. Every day new applications and software's are developed to meet the demand of users. Cloud Computing qualifies as one of the demanded technology at the moment because it gives users the impression of having infinite computing means, of which they can use as much as they need, without having to worry about how those resources are provided. A preliminary review through a qualitative research approach was employed where three higher institutions in Namibia were engaged. The focus was on gaining an initial overview of the needs and resource base capabilities of such typical institutions found in a typical developing country environment. The findings from this initial exercise will inform to a greater extent the positive indicators and probable hindrances to full implementation of cloud solutions.