7 September 2020

CloudCoCo Group plc

("CloudCoCo" or "the Company")

Launch of global remote access solution for international students

CloudCoCo (AIM: CLCO), a UK provider of IT and communications solutions to businesses and public sector organisations, announces the launch of a Secure Global Learning Access (SGLA) solution for UK institutions delivering education and their students, and inclusion of the solution in a leading education procurement framework.

Secure Global Learning Access solution

The global COVID-19 pandemic has caused a myriad of travel restrictions around the world, making it difficult for many international students who want an education delivered by a UK institution to physically be on campus.

When remotely located in their home countries, many international students will struggle to reliably and securely connect to UK virtual learning environments, interactive teaching sessions, streamed live lectures and digital library resources. The issue is exacerbated when many students are simultaneously online and face restrictions on internet access.

The higher education sector is an almost £7 billion per annum export market in the UK. With the new academic year commencing this month, global remote access issues are time-sensitive and could disrupt the education of hundreds of thousands of students around the world while posing a threat to a core source of revenue for UK institutions delivering education.

In partnership with Fortinet, a global leader in broad, integrated and automated cybersecurity solutions, CloudCoCo has developed a scalable global remote access solution for UK institutions delivering education and their international students that solves the problem, allowing students to remotely access learning resources without compromising internet speed, security or contravening internet restriction laws.

Jisc Global Education Access Framework

Recognising the need to ensure international students receive the best quality and equitable experience for the start of the new term in the autumn, Jisc Limited ("Jisc"), a leading not-for-profit organisation working on behalf of the education and research sector to deliver shared digital and infrastructure services, negotiate sector-wide procurement deals and provide expert trusted advice on education technology, has created a framework of service providers able to deliver a solution. CloudCoCo is pleased to announce it has been named one of four firms capable of supplying the solution across the framework, and the preferred supplier under the Global lot. 

Jisc will share details of the CloudCoCo SGLA solution directly with the decision makers and technical buyers of its members, including over 150 higher education institutions. At the same time, CloudCoCo and Fortinet direct marketing campaigns for the SGLA solution are underway and initial responses have been positive.

Mark Halpin, CEO of CloudCoCo, commented:

"The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international students has been well-publicised and I'm pleased we've been able, alongside Fortinet, to devise a solution with the potential to help the students continue their studies from abroad while providing vital support to universities in the UK.

"Jisc is the most trusted digital procurement authority in UK education, so having it promote our product to those institutions in need is not only a great endorsement of the quality of our work but a powerful route to market.

"It is difficult to forecast the level of uptake at this stage, but we are excited about the near-term opportunity and look forward to establishing relationships with a number of globally-renowned universities across the country."

Paul Anderson, Regional Director UK & Ireland of Fortinet, said:

"UK universities, guided by high-quality, independent advice from Jisc, are taking action to address the uncertainty for international students wanting to benefit from a world-class higher education in the UK despite the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, enabling them to continue their studies and undertake examinations from their home countries online.

"We are delighted to be partnering with CloudCoCo to provide a global remote access solution that improves the quality and performance of international students' connectivity and grants them reliable access to virtual learning environments and course material from anywhere in the world. The solution is dynamically scalable to many thousands of users per institution, and integrates seamlessly into their security infrastructure."

About CloudCoCo

Supported by a team of industry experts and harnessing a diverse ecosystem of partnerships with blue-chip technology vendors, CloudCoCo makes it easy for businesses and public sector organisations to work smarter, faster and more securely by providing a single point of purchase for their connectivity, telephony, cyber security, cloud, IT hardware and support needs.

CloudCoCo has offices in Warrington and Leeds in the UK.

www.cloudcoco.co.uk