YunTech’s move to Azure positions the school and its students for continued innovation

YunTech needed a cloud solution that could handle high-traffic periods such as course registration while also solving system interruptions caused by power outages.

With 90% of the school’s academic systems developed in-house using Microsoft applications, YunTech chose Azure because of its technical compatibility, reliability and regulatory compliance.

YunTech’s staff can now focus on program development, with hardware resource allocation, maintenance, security and disaster recovery all handled through Azure.

National Yunlin University of Science and Technology (YunTech) in Taiwan has an educational philosophy of practical application, working closely with industries and businesses to transform students’ research into innovation and problem solving.

Since it was established in 1991, the university has continuously evolved to meet the changing needs of its students and the workforce; for example, it was an early adopter of online learning. YunTech serves approximately 10,000 students across its five colleges. The school’s Library and Information Services Office (LIO) is responsible for the university’s computer and network resources, which have an important impact on improving teaching, research and administrative efficiency.

With the scale of that responsibility growing every year, LIO began looking for a cloud solution that could handle high-traffic periods such as course registration and also solve system interruptions caused by power outages. In 2022, YunTech selected Azure because of its technical compatibility, reliability, and regulatory compliance.

Ching-Lung Chang, the CIO of LIO, says migrating to Azure made sense for YunTech in large part because 90% of the school’s academic systems have been developed in-house using Microsoft applications such as .NET, Windows Server and SQL Server. This deep integration with Microsoft’s ecosystem made Azure a natural choice—not just for technical compatibility, but for seamless modernization. With local datacenters newly deployed in Taiwan, a shift to Azure would also mean real-time backup across multiple datacenters, providing security, reliability and compliance with government regulations.

“We are allowing the cloud provider to handle hardware resource allocation and maintenance so that our staff could focus on program development.”

Ching-Lung Chang, CIO, Library and Information Services Office at YunTech

With their choice made, YunTech embarked on a two-year preparation process that included cloud skills training, migration plan formulation and a pilot run. This allowed YunTech to automatically scale computing resources based on demand—especially critical during peak times like course registration.

While YunTech initially explored Kubernetes for its cloud architecture, they opted for a phased approach using Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets to modernize incrementally, given some legacy components are still in use. Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets allow for load-balancing virtual machine instances, with the ability to automatically increase or decrease the number of instances in response to demand or a set schedule.

They worked closely with Microsoft and partner CloudRiches Digital to rewrite and adjust parts of the system during the transition. CloudRiches has extensive experience in cloud migration and provides technical support and consulting services, says CloudRiches CEO Kuei Tzu-Chieh. CloudRiches worked closely with YunTech to explore all aspects of the migration: demand analysis, cost forecasting, security considerations, technical evaluations, data backup, and testing plans.

Every LIO staff member received Azure professional technical training and obtained relevant certifications. A pilot run was conducted using the Azure datacenter in Tokyo to assess the resources and budget that would be required for the migration and to plan a clear and comprehensive roadmap.

Chang says a principle YunTech relied on in considering their cloud transition was, “If you can use PaaS, don’t use IaaS.”

“We are allowing the cloud provider to handle hardware resource allocation and maintenance so that our staff focus on program development,” he says. “This strategy ensures that during system operation we no longer need to worry about hardware failures, power instability or information security issues, greatly improving the system's operational reliability.”

With its Azure-powered environment, YunTech has transformed how its systems are managed, secured, and scaled.

After migrating to the cloud, security and disaster recovery have also been greatly improved. Every user logging into the administrative system must pass two-factor authentication, enhancing identity verification strength and permission management accuracy. In the past, the school faced cost and technical challenges in building off-site backup data centers. Now, through cloud technology, off-site disaster recovery can be easily achieved, significantly enhancing operational resilience.

“Zero Trust security architecture and disaster recovery features enable YunTech to truly achieve compliance with cybersecurity regulations,” Chang says.

With Azure, YunTech can easily integrate the latest AI services into academic and administrative systems—without complex infrastructure overhead.

YunTech has developed an English translation system for announcements, AI customer service chatbots, a legal translation system and systems for student course selection, career guidance and matching.

YunTech’s cloud-first strategy doesn’t just support today’s operations—it’s laying the foundation for the next generation of educational innovation.

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