Collegiate Project Services
Higher education isn’t our business…it’s our passion.
Latest posts by Collegiate Project Services (see all)
- 4 Common Barriers to Systems Change - February 9, 2016
- 6 Key Challenges Influencing Enterprise Systems Decisions - January 12, 2016
- Building a Business Case for SaaS ERP: Why Schools are Switching and Why Schools are Waiting - May 11, 2015
Many campus leaders are wondering if ‘the cloud’ is right for their institution. The last few years have brought about significant ‘disruption’ in higher ed technology – all driven by cloud-based software and delivery options. Here are five reasons to look more closely at cloud-based ERP for your institution…and one reason not to.
Reason #1: Your institution has customized your current commercial ERP beyond recognition.
It’s true…every institution is unique. But not that unique. Many schools have fallen into the practice of customizing to satisfy business needs, versus exercising strong governance to encourage process and policy change before systems changes. And the results can be very costly – there is the initial investment of time and resources (your own IT staff or consultants) to design and implement customizations, and those ‘one-offs’ require special care and attention with every system upgrade, and often represent a significant annual recurring expenditure. In an era when every institution is being asked to streamline processes, maximize efficiencies and generally do more with less, ERP customizations need to be a thing of the past.
Reason #2: Your students, faculty and staff have sophisticated expectations…but their experience with your current system is anything but.
Campus users want a system that is responsive, slick and intuitive. The same type of experience they have with online shopping, social media, and countless other services in this app-driven world. And the cloud-based ERP market is responding – with user interfaces built around the user, creating personalized, or ‘persona-driven’ environments that put the services and functions that your students, faculty and staff need access to right at their fingertips.
Reason #3: Your institution has just survived – or you are currently facing – a major systems upgrade.
In many cases major upgrades can equate to a new implementation – in terms of the time, resources and coordination required to plan, test and execute one properly. Not to mention the end-user training that needs to be delivered for new or updated functionality. Cloud-based ERPs make major upgrades a thing of the past. New functionality is typically deployed on more rapid timeline, which compels schools to ‘institutionalize’ coordination, testing and training practices rather than dusting off those skillsets once every several years. This all speaks to strong governance, a lynchpin of a successful cloud-based ERP deployment.
Reason #4: Data-driven decision making is an institutional priority, but you don’t have the tools to make it happen.
Most commercial ERPs offer integrated analytics packages – but typically as a separate module or application, which you may or may not have implemented (whether or not those tools were well-implemented is a different story altogether). Many institutions need to invest significant resources to get a return on those ERP analytics packages, and to be able to respond to institutional and ad-hoc reporting needs on a timely and accurate basis. “Integrated analytics” takes on a different meaning with cloud-based ERP solutions. The tools are typically embedded in the core applications themselves, meaning they are ‘live’ or ‘implemented’ when the ERP is, and less is required of a school’s resources to take full advantage of them. All of which helps advance institutional goals for data-driven decision making.
Reason #5: Advances in technology are redefining the commercial ERP market in higher education.
The same factors that influenced your decision to invest in your current ERP may no longer be relevant. Campus leaders are asking how or if the cloud can help their institution – and now is the perfect time to find out. Take a look at market offerings, get educated about the major players, and determine the questions you need to be asking about deploying a cloud-based ERP.
So why shouldn’t you evaluate cloud-based ERP for your institution? Return on Investment (ROI).
Yes, there may be longer-term cost savings with some cloud-based models, but not always. It’s not a simple model where you can just compare your current annual recurring software maintenance and hardware costs to the subscription fees for a cloud-based ERP. There are ‘hidden’ costs to consider that can impact true ROI or cost savings, such as increased integration costs, and different skillsets and/or staffing needed for business analysts. But most importantly, cloud-based ERP represents a huge cultural change for your institution – so there need to be other drivers in place to justify considering a change, with cost savings being the least important.
What reasons are compelling your institution to examine cloud-based ERP?
Check out our SlideShare to further explore this topic: Why Cost Savings Shouldn’t Lead the Discussion about Cloud-based ERP on Campus
Like this post? Join our mailing list for updates to the blog.
