Would Cloud Computing Revolutionize Teaching Business Intelligence Courses?

In the last decade Business Intelligence has become one of the hottest areas in Information Technology. Meanwhile, teaching Business Intelligence courses for Masters of Business Administration programs faces a variety of challenges. One of the major hurdles in offering Business Intelligence courses is the complex and costly computing infrastructure necessary for the software used in such courses. One possible remedy might be to use cloud computing. Cloud computing offers flexible access the necessary software and hardware through the Internet. It is becoming increasingly popular because of its on-demand and pay-per-use business models. In this paper, we examine how cloud computing might be used to revolutionize the way of teaching business intelligence courses. In doing so, we present various possible infrastructure scenarios and the necessary tools. Finally, we discuss the perceived difficulties in adopting Business Intelligence as a service business model in academic settings. We also reflect on the economics of cloud computing. Keywords: Cloud Computing, Business Intelligence, Software as a Service, Teaching BI, Pay-per-use.