Resource Constraints? Student System Modernization Is Still Possible

Now, more than ever, institutions are aware of the potential shortcomings in aging student systems. While some institutions made moves to modernize before the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the last few years have been focused on adjusting to new demands as the situation evolves. As higher education continues to recover from the pandemic impacts, […]
Tambellini Group Celebrates 2021 Stevie® Awards for Women in Business

CEO Vicki Tambellini founded Tambellini Group twenty years ago to fill the unmet needs of higher education technology leaders seeking unbiased research and guidance to inform their expensive and impactful IT purchasing decisions at an affordable price. Today, hundreds of college and university members rely on Tambellii’s expert research and analysis of higher education technology and related trends. And vendor members trust […]
Enterprise CRM: Should I Care?

Summary In higher education, CRM technology has traditionally been scattered across multiple functional areas for multiple purposes. For a few institutions, looking at CRM more holistically has become an imperative. Why? Should you take this approach? It is not right for every campus, as it can cause unnecessary complications. But for some institutions, the alignment […]
Impact of the Salesforce Acquisition of Slack

In December 2020, Salesforce announced the multibillion-dollar acquisition of Slack. At the time, few details were released regarding how the two companies would operate or the potential impacts of the merger. Roughly seven months later, the acquisition is complete, and the future landscape is more evident. Current State When Salesforce announced the completion of the […]
Verticalization Strategies of Megavendors: How is Higher Education Faring?

Application megavendors are reaching a level of maturity in their core cloud applications—in delivery, operations, marketing, and business models. They have stabilized the delivery of core applications in many ways: Continuous delivery: Delivering new functionality without disrupting their customers’ business Flexibility: Implementing configurable applications that work in most industries Reliability: Minimal unplanned downtime using modern […]
Student Success through a Workforce Lens: Hot Takes from the 2021 ASU+GSV Summit

The 2021 ASU+GSV Summit took place in San Diego (in-person!) last week. For those unfamiliar with it, the conference converges on the intersection of education, workforce, equity work, and educational technology. For example, in one of my favorite first-day moments, JFF Vice President Michael Collins challenged higher education to confront their workforce partners about inequitable […]
Student System Features Higher Ed CIOs Should Be Considering

As campuses prepare to welcome students back for the fall 2021 term, meeting student needs is more important than ever. COVID-19 highlighted the need for a strong student system with robust features to support all facets of student life, not just record keeping. Tambellini Analyst Dr. Laura Gogia recently shared some student success insights that […]
Establishing a Data Management Program

Due to the overwhelming number of inquiries Tambellini analysts are receiving about data management, I want to resurface this blog post that I wrote last June. It starts by outlining the benefits of a full data management program. CTOs, CIOs, and other IT leaders tell us that getting clear on these benefits helps them explain […]
The Formation of Thesis

When Unit4 was acquired in March of this year, little was said about the Student products that were left behind with Advent International, Unit4’s previous owner. What is the impact of this separation? First, let’s look back. As COVID-19 began to impact the industry, the Unit4 Student team (including development and support) began to separate […]
How Higher Ed CIOs Can Support Student Success Initiatives

Although many higher education institutions have for years sought to improve student success (increasingly known as student experience), the visible struggle of many students during COVID-19 renewed the urgency around institutions getting it right—right now. More schools are professionalizing advising, creating new student success divisions, and restructuring student and academic affairs to streamline oversight and […]