Seattle University has been recognized as a 2025 AWS Champions Award winner for its comprehensive cloud transformation initiative. By modernizing its entire IT infrastructure with AWS, the university has significantly improved flexibility, reduced operational complexity, and created a resilient, future-ready environment that enhances service delivery across campus.

Project Overview
A Cloud-First Strategy for Institutional Agility
Serving more than 7,000 students across nearly 100 degree programs, Seattle University launched a campus-wide cloud initiative to replace aging on-premises systems with scalable, cloud-native services. Core systems like the enterprise resource planning (ERP system and student information system (SIS) were migrated to AWS, along with structured and unstructured data environments.

The university also implemented cloud-based backup and disaster recovery, deployed virtual labs accessible from anywhere, and developed serverless integrations to simplify operations. The result was a modern IT infrastructure that touches nearly every aspect of university operations — enhancing agility, access, and innovation.

Challenges Addressed: From Legacy Complexity to Cloud Simplicity
Seattle University sought to overcome challenges such as:

• High costs and maintenance demands of legacy infrastructure 
• Limited flexibility for deploying or scaling services 
• Disaster recovery concerns and campus-only system access 
• Slow, inefficient backup systems and fragile data integrations 
• Difficulty attracting IT talent and modernizing operations 

AWS enabled the university to simplify, modernize, and future-proof its IT landscape.

Results: Cost Savings, Resiliency, and Greater Innovation
The transformation led to clear, measurable outcomes:

• Avoided multimillion-dollar infrastructure investments 
• Significantly improved disaster recovery and business continuity 
• Enabled faster deployments and flexible virtual labs available anywhere 
• Streamlined IT operations, allowing staff to focus on high-value projects 
• Improved data integration and faster backup and recovery performance 
• Accelerated the development of new data models and services 

With AWS, Seattle University transitioned from static, hardware-bound systems to a dynamic environment that supports continuous improvement and innovation.

Building a Future-Ready Campus Through Cloud Innovation
Seattle University’s forward-looking approach has created a modern, scalable IT foundation that supports students and staff wherever they are.