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 Leverage Cloud Service Providers for Strategic Gain
For some time, we have been talking about the trend of developing new commercial applications almost entirely in the cloud. Companies either host their older application code in the cloud or build cloud-native SaaS applications (or both in some cases). Higher education institutions have begun migrating to these new cloud applications, as have most industries, […]
Why Identity Management Is So Important in Higher Education
You are two or three weeks into your new role as the university’s CIO and have learned a lot about the institution and its students, the technology at a high level, and some of the major players on campus and in your own organization. You are starting to visualize options for a path forward, but […]
AWS re:Invent Showcases the Pace of Cloud Innovation
AWS re:Invent 2020 was quite the show. As an all-virtual experience, AWS showed that it understands how to bring its speakers, especially its most senior leaders, to a virtual forum packed with the detail of what makes AWS special. As the industry leader in cloud platforms, it’s clear that AWS intends to keep that position, […]
Process Automation in Higher Ed: Hype or Reality?
Hype. Whether scrolling through Twitter, LinkedIn, or your email, you cannot escape the hype around low code and robotic process automation (RPA). So, as you hear the hype, you may be inclined to read a little, then continue to scroll past it, given everything else on your plate. We’ve always dealt with the latest hyped […]
Four Technologies Higher Ed Apps Leaders Should be Investing in for 2021
So, 2020 did not go as we expected—in really any facet of our personal or professional lives. Our plans were derailed, so planning for 2021 is even more daunting than our normal annual planning. Should we just extend our 2020 plans? Or start over with what we’ve learned this year? What can we expect to […]
What Did I Forget?! Top 5 Non-Implementation Issues to Think About During a Cloud Application Transition
After living through three generations of technology that have swept through higher education administrative systems over the last 30+ years, I have added the unique experience of stepping out of the institutions and into my role as an industry analyst. Thinking about my own experiences as I listen to many of you talk about what’s […]
Modernizing Reporting and Analytics
I have spoken to many institutions about their data management over the past several years. The one question I always ask is “Have your senior leaders ever brought conflicting data or reports to the provost or president?” Without fail, the answer is yes. Why does this happen? And what is the impact when an organization […]
Administrative Systems Planning Checklist Infographic
Legacy, on-premises administrative systems are approaching their end of life and do not provide the expected user experience. Software vendors have invested heavily in developing higher education cloud products and have delivered or are on track to provide mature, modern cloud software-as-a-service solutions for finance, HCM, and student systems. While it may not be feasible […]
Finance, HCM, and Student System Planning in the COVID-19 Era
Where does the move to cloud administrative systems fit into your strategic plan? How has the COVID-19 crisis changed your plans? Will you adopt a cloud administrative system sooner or later? As with all industries, higher education has been experiencing a rapid rate of technological change and has responded in varying degrees. Software vendors have […]
