Case Study: Stanford University accelerates scientific data management with Flywheel on Google Cloud

Stanford University speeds research collaboration and cuts processing from a month to a day with Google for Education

Stanford University’s cognitive and neurobiological imaging researchers faced challenges in managing and sharing large volumes of scientific data. Their on-premises infrastructure was difficult to scale, slowed collaboration, and consumed significant IT resources for maintenance. They needed a secure, scalable cloud platform to handle complex computational workloads and HIPAA-protected data, partnering with Google for Education using Google Cloud.

The solution involved migrating their Flywheel scientific data management system to Google Cloud. This allowed researchers to scale compute resources on demand, process datasets in parallel, and share data and methods globally with ease. The results include drastically reduced processing times, freeing over half an FTE's time from infrastructure management, and enabling real-time collaboration with international institutions. According to the team, Google Cloud has been essential for accelerating discoveries and advancing reproducible science.

Stanford University