Technology Outsourcing Success Stories in Higher Education

As budgets tighten around the country, colleges and universities are under immense pressure to achieve higher efficiency. For business and technology officers, many are caught in the maelstrom of multiple and sometimes conflicting goals and priorities.

Should efforts be focused on operationally essential tasks to keep the institution running smoothly? Or should preparing for the latest trends in technology take precedence?

While some institutions continue to grapple with these challenges, a fast-growing number of savvy schools are finding success with technology partners–achieving the best of both worlds and accomplishing much more than they could on their own. Their IT teams, especially those with technology partners who possess a strong understanding and alignment of their institutions’ cultural and financial needs, are empowered to innovate and drive student success.

In this white paper, we’ll look at five higher education institutions who outsourced operationally essential tasks, allowing them to focus on their mission–driving innovation to improve the teaching and learning experience.

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INTRODUCTION

Texas State prepared for the email transition by setting the groundwork via throughput optimization, system testing, power user testing, and creating a communication plan.

With universities looking for ways to cut costs, many are trading in their server-clogging in-house email systems. Colleges that make the switch save time, money and precious disc space.

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TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY:HARNESSING THE POWER OFEMAIL IN THE CLOUD

Despite the increase in technologies for video conferencing, social media, and other collaborative tools, email was still a major communications tool for Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas; the 2nd largest institution in the state system. But, as its 42,000-strong faculty, staff and students continued to send bigger and bigger files, like videos and pictures, on-site storage became costly. And managing storage and servers for the email infrastructure turned into a headache for their administrators.

So, Texas State decided to outsource its email system, migrating all accounts to cloud-based Microsoft Office 365 in 2016.

The cloud-based solution reduced equipment placement costs and enabled the university to move other locally hosted services to Office 365 due to the expansive suite Office 365 encompasses. Web-based email solutions, for users accustomed to accessing information on the go, are enabled by stable Wi-Fi networks across campus.

ERP systems are a core function of any institution–combining sensitive data such as student information, financial management, financial aid, and human resources materials in one system. And although outsourcing administrative services are not necessarily less expensive in dollar terms, proportionally less time is needed to manage an external provider than to deliver the service itself.

Such was the case for Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. The Ivy League school was among the earlier adopters of Workday’s cloud-based human resource and payroll software-as-a-service.

Being able to integrate HR functions with payroll was an important consideration for the school, as was a solution that could be customized to its specific data needs. “We don't run like a corporation. Our innovations come from the faculty and the collaborations that occur across disciplines. We need administrative systems that recognize this, that can adapt very quickly and don't get in the faculty's way," said Mary Opperman, vice president of human resources. "There was a need to streamline administrative functions to free up resources to put toward the university's core missions. We need flexibility that matches our academic enterprise.”1

Since various configurations of Workday’s ERP are possible, Cornell worked closely with the company to tailor the system for higher education and for Cornell’s campus specifically. Workday went live in 2013. The customized solution echoes the need for responsive support and individualized solutions from partnering companies.

During the integration extensive collaboration with campus stakeholders—IT, HR, and others—ensured the solution fit the university’s culture. After hosting trainings and gathering feedback about business needs, Workday ERP reports were adopted across campus, creating efficiencies around tasks such as collection operational data and conducting performance reviews. Ultimately, Cornell’s integration helped evaluate current processes and identify potential for efficiencies.

“If you plan on porting your current processes into the cloud-based system, you’re not going to gain any efficiencies,” said Seth P. Braher, director of HR information systems at Cornell. 2

Braher’s quote reiterates the fact that, in some cases, institutions waste time and effort trying to salvage existing infrastructure. Instead, partnering with a trusted company can reinvigorate campus operations to support operationally essential technology.

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CORNELL UNIVERSITY:ONE OF THE FIRST ADOPTERSOF WORKDAY ERP2

Providing connectivity and Wi-Fi in residence halls is a headache for IT professionals at nearly every academic institution. But adding more stress to this already complex network management function is the explosion of mobile devices and the proliferation of streaming, which, according to a new report on internet traffic, 58% of downstream traffic is video. Add to that student expectations for on-demand device support at all hours, scope creep doesn’t begin to describe the growth in demand and responsibility that the typical university IT department has experienced in the past few years. But, when increased demand meets fixed resources, something must give.

Such was the case at James Madison University (JMU), a large public university in Harrisonburg, Virginia. With 20,000 mostly undergraduate students and 28 residence halls, the growth in demand and expectations not only required an overhaul of the network, but ongoing management and support so that IT could focus on strategic initiatives such as planning for change.

JMU made the strategic decision to outsource and partnered with higher ed’s largest managed technology services provider Apogee to deliver a complete re-implementation of their campus residential network (ResNet) and 24/7 support model. Because of their partnership with Apogee, JMU has saved millions in equipment costs, saw significant reductions in staffing costs, attained excellent connectivity (despite significant density issues), and experienced quick and efficient installation of the network.

Take equipment costs, for example. During the ResNet implementation, JMU was able to reuse electronic equipment and 450 access points, when originally these items could have easily been written off as a sunk cost. JMU was also able to move over 20,000 student devices off their enterprise/academic network and onto the Apogee student network.

Manpower savings—in both time and money—have also been significant. Now, IT staff never have to worry about installing additional equipment to keep up with a surge in usage or increasing demand. If something breaks or service is interrupted, Apogee monitors and fixes issues as they come up. And, the school was able to reassign the full-time ResNet support staffers to other important work.

Creating partnerships to offload ResNet management and support has helped JMU pursue strategic initiatives the institution would not have been able to achieve otherwise.

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JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY:OUTSOURCED RESNET IS SECRET TOSTUDENT SATISFACTION3

Colleges and universities are not in the business of producing network programming or filming professional sports, and they have outsourced video in some form or another for decades. However, many schools have different providers for distribution and programming, leading to multiple contracts, procurement bottlenecks, and confusion about support–among other issues.

Changing behaviors in student viewing habits has contributed to IPTV (Internet Protocol Television)’s increasing popularity as students stream content on mobile devices. To address these behavioral and operational challenges, Ripon College, a small private liberal arts college in Ripon, Wisconsin, looked to Apogee to implement and manage a state-of-the art IPTV solution.

With Apogee’s IPTV service, Ripon’s nearly 1,000 students enjoy an on-demand experience and the ability to watch the shows they want, when and where they want them. Students now can access 80 HD channels and networked DVR–two student favorites – as well as on-demand television, an HBO GO subscription, and 24-hour playback capabilities. And students can connect their personal devices to the system, enabling TV access anywhere on campus.

In addition to TV-watching amenities, Apogee also provides the campus with its own student channel, dubbed Rally Network. With Rally Network, students have another avenue to promote events and share news. Student groups can advertise events, share campus news and market their groups on television, thus magnifying student messages, and even making “campus celebrities” of many amongst their student groups.

Ripon, by partnering with Apogee for IPTV service, has been able to enhance the campus experience and aid in recruitment and retention.

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RIPON COLLEGE: LEVERAGING IPTV TO ENHANCETHE STUDENT EXPERIENCE4

Most U.S. colleges and universities have an LMS for academic activities, including posting syllabuses, grading and tracking, reporting, and delivering educational materials, usually on an institution-wide scale.

But selecting an LMS that helps achieve its academic plan poses a challenge for many institutions. The software system must be scalable and stable, and it must fit the academic culture to truly drive student success. Institutions have various considerations when choosing an LMS. Many outsource for some of the same reasons as email: time saved on programming and start-up costs, server hosting and storage, cost efficiencies, and support.

Take Marist College, a private liberal arts college located on the Hudson River in upstate New York. Back in 2008, Marist switched to an open-source LMS, Sakai, and was also the first major institution to implement Sakai’s version 11 in 2016, investing in the latest technology to engage learners and ensure they had the highest caliber of resources.

And while Marist didn’t expect high faculty participation in the early days, administrators were surprised by the numbers—almost 65% of faculty members adopted the platform the first year, exceeding expectations and reinforcing the need for a cutting-edge LMS solution on campus.

For Marist, Sakai’s open-source model was a cultural fit and aligned with the school’s strategic goals in terms of technology. Marist wanted the open-source, collaborative capabilities to enhance the college’s distance and onlineeducation offerings—offerings which now see participation from more than 23% of the school’s 7,000 students.

When evaluating LMS solutions, senior academic technology officer Joshua Baron noted that institutions should refrain from selecting an option based only on features, but “instead, try to take a more strategic approach that factors in the institution’s needs and goals over the longer-term.” 3

Again, cultural alignment is an essential consideration for outsourcing.

So, should efforts be focused on operationally essential tasks to keep the institution running smoothly? Or should preparing for the latest trends in technology take precedence? What makes the most sense for university administrators going forward?

We hope the success stories at Texas State, Cornell, James Madison, Ripon and Marist have demonstrated that outsourcing for operationally essential tasks can be a victory that drives strategic outcomes while enabling you to keep your eye on staying ahead and realizing your strategic mission. Now the question business and technology officers really need to be asking is this: Is our mission to do everything ourselves, or is our mission our mission?

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MARIST COLLEGE:SWITCH TO OPEN-SOURCE LMSTO ENHANCE DISTANCE AND ONLINE LEARNING

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apogee.us

ABOUT APOGEE

As higher education’s largest provider of managed technology services, Apogee helps colleges and universities transition to and excel in today’s digital era. Its comprehensive Managed Campus Suite includes network services that connect the campus to enhance learning outcomes, video that transforms the way students learn, and new digital engagement technologies that captivate students and drive meaningful engagement. Partnering with Apogee enables schools to derive greater return on their IT investments and increases student satisfaction while achieving budget stability and predictability.

Wendi LissoRegional Vice President, West

John O’BrienRegional Vice President, South

Pat WalshRegional Vice President, Central

Mark FloodRegional Vice President, East

ENDNOTES

1 Lang, Leah and Pirani, Judith A. The 2014 Enterprise Application Market in Higher Education: Human Resources Information Educause, Web. November 2, 2018.

2 Lang, Leah and Pirani, Judith A. The 2014 Enterprise Application Market in Higher Education: Human Resources Information Educause, Web. November 2, 2018.

3 Jackson, Nancy Mann. How colleges make the big LMS switch. University Business, Web. November 2, 2018.

WORKS CITED

Lang, Leah and Pirani, Judith. Enterprise Application Market In Higher Education. Educause, Web. November 2, 2018.

Lang, Leah and Pirani, Judith A. The 2014 Enterprise Application Market in Higher Education: Human Resources Information Educause, Web. November 2, 2018.

The Global Internet Phenomena Report, October 2018, Web. November 2, 2018.

Marist Implements Sakai 11. Marist.edu, Web. November 2, 2018.

Jackson, Nancy Mann. How colleges make the big LMS switch. University Business, Web. November 2, 2018.

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