Simplifying student registration from a tedious 90-day process to under an hour, and more than doubling their enrolment numbers, is exactly what Eduvos has achieved, through a partnership with Microsoft technology partner Braintree.
Having previously struggled with a manual enrolment process and fragmented operating landscape, this institution has now implemented a streamlined Microsoft and Dynamics 365 solution. This means that real-time insights are now available across finance, students, academics, human resources, and faculty. Disjointed processes, conflicting KPIs from each team and weeks of reconciliation are now things of the past.
Eduvos has evolved from the original Computer Technology Institute, which was established in 1979, to one of South Africa’s largest independent private higher education institutions. With 12 campuses and over 20 accredited qualifications, Eduvos offers students a blended learning model which alternates between one week on-campus and one week off-campus.Given their growth and the need to deliver more learning opportunities to students in South Africa, this tertiary facility needed a solution to improve its operational efficiency.
Enrolment used to encompass the manual processing of an 80-page document per applicant, which needed to be physically signed, and the temporary recruitment of 120 staff to facilitate this.
“Things happen much faster now, it’s almost instantaneous,” says Dr.RiaanSteenberg, Executive Director at Eduvos.
“Our main obstacle was integration—without it, the different departments could not communicate with each other. Visibility, or the lack thereof, was the primary motivator to begin our digital transformation,” says Dr.Steenberg. “We knew that the change did not just involve the systems. We needed to find a solution to become an entirely new entity, and the Braintree team could guide us there,” Dr Steenberg says.
The biggest challenge for Braintree was the timeline, with the integration of enormous amounts of data needing to be completed so that the system could be operational in time for the 2024 academic year.
Within a matter of months, every facet of student life from enrolment to course completion was integrated into Microsoft, with real time access to all required resources. This transformation has also resulted in a reduction in associated costs by as much as 90 percent.
In addition to this, from a finance and operations perspective, all finance processes, budgeting, and expense management have also been integrated into the Microsoft solution. This financial integration also now empowers students to be able to access statements and documentation online.
With the new tools available, this tertiary education provider is also able to interact with potential future students on different social media platforms and obtain a record of inquiries to provide a better service experience and increased reach.
Educational institutions face a multitude of security challenges, both internally and externally. Given the enhanced security capabilities when shifting from a traditional on-premises IT model to a Microsoft cloud solution, Eduvos has also significantly improved its security score.
These technological improvements have also enabled them to further their reach, with the introduction of an online part-time model which allows students to engage with lectures online during the evening from anywhere in the country.
From sending marketing emails, students clicking to apply, and uploading of all their information and academic history, to the allocation of qualifications, invoice, and debit order details, signed contracts as well as their day-to-day course requirements and assignments, these previous fragmented processes now sit on a single, accessible platform.
