Collegiate Project Services
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The drivers for technology decisions in higher education are changing – institutions need to focus on streamlining processes, building efficiencies, and optimizing their infrastructure and suite of applications. Expectations for enterprise systems have evolved from just providing an integrated administrative system to delivering timely, value-added services built around the user experience. Institutions need to shape their enterprise suite to drive towards these new, higher expectations.
Enter the ERP Options Assessment. Many schools are looking to become better educated about the marketplace options and how they can leverage new and improved solutions to meet their institutions’ goals. In this post, we explore a few topics essential to this discussion:
- The interruptions and disruptions in the higher ed ERP market
- Higher ed’s ‘new normal’ as a change agent for ERP decisions and behaviors
- Approaches and best practices for conducting an ERP options assessment
Let’s start by looking at how the ERP higher ed market has evolved in recent years.
ERP, Interrupted…then Disrupted
The higher education ERP market has traditionally been dominated by a small group of well-established commercial or COTS (commercial off the shelf) solutions including Oracle/PeopleSoft, Banner, Colleague, CampusVue, and Jenzabar. Depending on the size and class of school, there might only be a few viable options and the deployment model was typically an on-premise installed instance of the system, or in recent years hosted deployments.
Then community source ‘interrupted’ the traditional ERP market when Kuali announced its Financial system – built by higher ed for higher ed – in 2004. Kuali’s community source ‘movement’ has taken a few turns since then, but the impact was significant in bringing attention to a new and viable option for schools to consider.
Where community source might have interrupted the ERP market in higher ed, SaaS based ERP is a definite disruption in the ERP market. SaaS (Software as a Service) emerged within the last decade as a viable option for institutions, first with CRM and other point solutions. But the real ‘disrupter’ for SaaS in the higher education ERP space has been Workday, with several vendors now developing cloud-based higher ed solutions like Oracle, SAP and the newly formed KualiCo.
A ‘New Normal’ Is Disrupting Higher Ed ERP Decisions
Institutions are also facing a ‘new normal’ in higher education. As the environment for ERP decisions grows complex, the factors that influence a school to invest in an administrative information system – ERP or SIS – growing increasingly complex as well.
What’s driving this?
There are several factors at play here creating this new normal in higher ed, including…
- Emerging and evolving technologies like cloud based computing
- Emphasis on a user-based technology experience for students, faculty and staff
- Pressures on institutions to streamline and invest strategically in systems
- Expectations for transparency and data-driven decision making
And at the same time schools are navigating the ‘new normal’ landscape, they are also looking to investments in administrative applications as opportunities to streamline, deliver improved services, and accelerate strategic plans.
An Opportunity to Examine Options
So this changing environment – the interruptions and disruptions in higher ed ERP technology and the ‘new normal’ in higher education – creates compelling reasons for schools to examine their options for enterprise administrative applications.
Many schools are responding to this environment and chartering projects that range from studies to build awareness for the market to full business case development for a systems change.
Varying Approaches, but Common Goals
The starting points vary – some schools want to use their existing system as the basis for comparison – whether it’s a vended solution or a highly customized homegrown solution – to see where a new ERP might provide a higher level of service or greater efficiencies than they experience today. Others want to build their higher ed ERP acumen and increase stakeholder awareness so the institution can make the most informed decision about strategic priorities and requirements for a new solution.
Regardless of the starting point, most schools want to, and should, achieve a few common outcomes for an ERP options assessment:
- An understanding of options in the market
- How their peers are handling ERP
- Compelling reasons for the institution to consider making a change
- An analysis of the risks involved in pursuing different options – including maintaining their existing applications
- Total cost of ownership for the different options
In order for a school to to effectively achieve these outcomes, there are 3 requirements essential to the process.
3 Requirements for a Successful ERP Options Assessment
Any school considering a formal assessment of their ERP options needs to consider 3 requirements for a successful evaluation:
Requirement #1: Put stakeholder awareness and education first. We’ve all heard and overused the phrase “you don’t know what you don’t know” with respect to higher ed technology. Building awareness for the types of options available (COTS, SaaS, cloud hosted, etc.) and the implications of each is essential! Invest the time to lay the groundwork…educated consumers are empowered consumers.
Requirement #2: Develop a framework for an apples to apples comparison. Trying to distinguish real comparative factors among options or solutions is difficult to do in a sales-driven discussion. With the right framework in place, schools objectively evaluate widely different options and cut through the ‘hype’ to look at what’s most important to the institution.
Requirement #3: Maintain an unbiased perspective. Preconceived conclusions about vendors and solutions are pretty difficult to avoid in the higher ed market. Here’s where schools can really benefit from an experienced, independent consulting partner. Schools should invest in a partner with a consistent reputation for conducting comprehensive and vendor-agnostic assessments.
With these three requirements in place, institutions can confidently assess and evaluate their options and focus on finding a solution that best meets the needs of the institution – both operationally and strategically – amidst the interruptions, disruptions and ‘new normal’ in higher ed.
What’s your perspective on the changing environments in higher education and the impacts to ERP decisions?
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