Aim delivering Digital Transformation and Business Interruption response for Higher Education through frictionless user engagement 

 

 

Challenge

 

Modern higher education establishments are large, complex and run as businesses. And some, taking account of student and staff numbers and campuses, are the size of not so small towns. As a consequence, budgets can be measured in multi-millions, if not billions. And the UK remains a world leader in its higher education with a number of its colleges and universities achieving world class rankings.

 

But to remain competitive, cost effective and attractive to new students and research teams, colleges and universities like other businesses need to take account of their different stakeholders and understand their service needs. Plus, colleges and universities have more than their share of stakeholders. Just think, there are under-graduates, post-graduates, researchers, teaching staff, premises teams, IT and comms teams, finance and bursars, HR, sports staff, student health – the list goes on.  And with a wide range of stakeholders and needs come IT systems that are required to connect them with the services and resources they need to access to efficiently and with no fuss. 

 

Although many universities are implementing digital transformation or shared service programmes, such programmes are complex and generally expensive and need to be paced according to yearly budgets and priorities. And like any business, college and university IT systems and applications will range from the modern to legacy, out of the box to custom built – making the whole transformation process more complicated. Plus, 2020 has shown the need for colleges and universities to up their plans for severe business interruptions like the COVID-19 pandemic, so that some semblance of normal operations can continue for students and staff alike through remote working.

 

Solution

 

Because we are all used in our home lives to using web applications from the big tech companies, we are used to and expect browser driven applications, frictionless access to services, modern and engaging user interfaces which are intuitive and quick to respond. But of course, big tech companies invest millions of dollars annually into their websites as their websites equate to their brands. 

 

So how can Aim help to remove the complexity of digital transformation in universities whilst accelerating programmes, at a fraction of the cost? Well, we do this by jumping the user digital experience to the next level through our dataServe® web-portal solution. 

 

The dataServe® web-portal is a development platform with exceptional automated workflows and connectors that can front any and all back-office systems – whether on-premise, cloud, legacy, modern, out of the box, custom developed. When in place, it makes the dataServe® portal the college or university’s go-to website for multi-channel access to services and resources. So, whoever you are and whatever you need, the dataServe® web portal will navigate you to the system or resource of choice. One portal, multiple points of access. And like any portal, dataServe® is built upon robust security, permissions and approval models to the standards used by banks, law enforcement agencies and national defence organisations. And because it provides a development and automation platform, dataServe® web-portal can be stood up with new services and reduced reliance on people very quickly – ideal for responding to major and prolonged business interruptions via remote working from on-premise, private cloud or public cloud.

 

Results and Payback

 

The drive to digital transformation and shared services will therefore take a leap forward by using the dataServe® web-portal to immediately streamline and harmonise IT services in the college or university. Just imagine, a single smart website that someone goes to for all their IT service requirements. And not only that, the dataServe® web-portal will allow the college or university to provide new and innovative services, processes and resources to its stakeholders never thought possible before – the real essence of successful digital transformation.

 

The dataServe® web-portal can be configured exactly as required, quickly and easily using our agile development approach. And payback can be measured in months, using our key indicators such as digital customer experience, transformation, productivity improvements and support cost reduction. As well as a significant aid in supporting your business interruption response.

 

We would be pleased to discuss the platform in more detail and to provide a demonstration of how it can transform your college or university.

 

Please contact us for more information or for a call-back by one of Aim’s expert consultants.