This article features a major statewide initiative in North Carolina that is showing how a consortium model can minimize risks for districts and help them exploit the advantages of cloud computing. Edgecombe County Public Schools in Tarboro, North Carolina, intends to exploit a major cloud initiative being refined in the state and involving every one of its districts. The North Carolina Education Cloud, or NCEdCloud, a multiyear project that started in late 2010, is designed to provide structure, processes, and assistance that districts require to identify IT needs, potential service providers, and even motivation for making the leap from on-premises to cloud-based operations. The author discusses five lessons for the aspiring consortium: (1) understand districts' needs; (2) focus goals on pain points; (3) clearly define the scope of service; (4) make the service opt-in and motivate first adopters; and (5) be prepared to educate cloud vendors on K-12.