The SnapLogic team is back from Chicago and excited to share what we learned at the Educause Annual Conference earlier this month. The event brings together leaders in higher education and technology to network, share ideas and advance the intersection of tech and education.
This year the two-day conference was held in Chicago and featured keynote presentations on the most pressing issues concerning higher education, the future of work, and technology; a panel discussion on the top 10 issues facing higher education’s institutional and technology leaders, including risk management and how to thrive in a world of unpredictability; and a discussion about the importance of bridging the generational gap among students, educators, administrators, vendors, and leaders in higher education.
The agenda included sessions on how to select and implement critical applications, technology infrastructure trends and advances in cloud computing, and countless examples of approaches and tools that educational institutions have implemented to advance technology transformation.
Priorities for tech leaders in higher education
Throughout the conference, a few key issues dominated a lot of discussion.
1. Security and risk management
The need for adequate security is paramount for every department and individual on campus, and requires a mix of on and offline approaches. According to a recent survey of students and leaders from educational institutions in the U.S., “two-thirds of top higher education decision-makers felt that threats to physical and network security were among their top priorities for the near future.”
2. Budget and tech consolidation
Every educational organization has to determine how to allocate their budget, as more money goes toward technology. The attraction of consolidation is very prevalent as universities are forced to do more with less. Leaders in higher education can reduce costs and improve student experience by streamlining processes, data, and technology. This can lead to cleaner data, better external reporting, and reduced administrative errors. It can also make innovation easier and help institutions become more agile.
3. Legacy technology and the cloud
ELT/ETL for legacy apps to the cloud continues to be an ongoing challenge. Many organizations struggle to deal with the complexities of integrating legacy and/or homegrown apps and databases with cloud applications.
4. How to approach AI
Technical leaders at universities are still figuring out how to approach AI. According to a survey from Inside Higher Ed, 73% of CIOs considered digital transformation a “high priority” or “essential” for their institution, only 51% said their fellow organizational leadership feel the same way.
“AI makes knowledge and expertise available in ways that they weren’t in the past. It has the potential to help people “skill up” rapidly, including those who have traditionally lacked access to effective educational opportunities and resources. In higher education, AI can potentially help reduce administrative costs if applied to administrative processes, job descriptions, project charters, meeting summaries and follow-up, coding, onboarding, and training.”
Vince Kellen and Jim Russell for Educause
An integration platform to meet the moment
An integration platform as a service (iPaaS) like SnapLogic can meet all of these challenges in one, easy-to-use solution.
- Works with existing, mixed-deployment environments
- Data is fully encrypted and only the pipeline infrastructure is accessible
- Requires fewer technical resources because it’s easy to learn and use
- Has generative AI built in to drastically speed up the process of integrating systems
We’ve worked with several educational institutions to help them connect their systems and set the stage for future data opportunities.
Rhodes College: Workday digital transformation and connectivity
Rhodes College is leading a multi-year effort to move to cloud-based service applications and away from legacy on-prem solutions, which will reduce the number of systems students have to work with and modernize their IT infrastructure.
SnapLogic is a vital component of Rhodes College’s ambitious five-year migration project to transition from legacy systems to Workday. This project encompasses a wide range of critical processes, including student lifecycle management, alumni relationships, financial operations, and more.
Rhodes College streamlined, automated and modernized processes from post-admission to graduation, with these results:
- Reduced legacy on-premises ERP and SIS systems from 22 down to 1
- Can now access business and student resourcing analytics
- Saved 50% on implementation costs, vs. using a third party
Learn more: “Catalyzing Connectivity: SnapLogic Fuels Rhodes College’s Workday Digital Transformation”
Skidmore College: Oracle Cloud migration with ease
Skidmore College fast-tracked their Oracle Cloud migration project with an easy-to-use platform, and in the process made future integrations easier to build and manage. With SnapLogic’s iPaaS, Skidmore College:
- Migrated to Oracle Cloud in 9 months, vs. 1 or 2 years
- Can create integrations in days instead of weeks
- Fully trained their developers on the tool within a month
Get the full story: “How Skidmore College Fast-Tracked Their Oracle Cloud Migration With SnapLogic”
How to manage technology in higher education
The Educause Annual Conference was a valuable opportunity to connect with tech leaders in higher education and learn about the latest trends in their world. The conference highlighted the importance of security and risk management, budget and tech consolidation, legacy technology and the cloud, and how to approach AI. SnapLogic’s iPaaS is a powerful tool that can help educational institutions meet these challenges and achieve their digital transformation goals.
Rhodes College and Skidmore College are just two examples of how SnapLogic has helped educational institutions streamline processes, reduce costs, and improve student experience. If you are a tech leader in higher education, I encourage you to learn more about SnapLogic’s iPaaS and how it can help you meet the challenges of today’s educational landscape.
