Building Confidence in Higher Ed Transformation: Key Success Factors for Modernization

In today's higher education landscape, modernization is no longer a question of if but when, as it is essential to improve student experience and ensure institutional sustainability.

We have an incredible opportunity to transform Higher Education for the next era of learning and student success. It is more important than ever that we work together to shape the future of our industry by thinking forward and planning for a digital first future. But it's more than an opportunity, it's an obligation. We have a shared obligation to work together across the industry to ready institutions for whatever the future holds.

In my 30 years of experience in digital transformation and innovation, I have witnessed firsthand the transformative power of technology. And in times of uncertainty, we often see what seemed impossible is made possible. Reflecting on the weeks following the work from home COVID mandate, I was working at Microsoft and saw countless examples where customers had plans to adopt a hybrid work strategy, implementing Microsoft Teams over a 12-18-month timeframe. And guess what happened? Somehow, we were able to get the same work done in 3 weeks – and move through any resistance to change. Because their users depended on it. That is what is possible when the goal is clear and the team is motivated to deliver on the outcome.

By adopting a predictable, outcome-driven approach to modernization and focusing on effective change management, institutional leaders can overcome barriers and build the support needed to drive transformation forward. Forming partnerships with organizations dedicated to long-term, student-centered solutions will be essential for successfully navigating the complexities of the education landscape in the years ahead.

The Imperative to Modernize – an Opportunity and an Obligation

Technology plays a crucial role in enhancing resilience and competitiveness, and embracing modernization leads to tangible benefits. By transforming student experiences, enhancing operational efficiency, and aligning with workforce demands, institutions can reduce costs, improve outcomes, and better prepare learners for a changing job market.

Despite this understanding, higher education has traditionally lagged behind other industries in adopting modern technologies and practices, largely due to organizational barriers. Now is the time for institutions to prioritize modernization—especially in light of growing cyberattacks, data privacy concerns, and digital-native students.

Let's explore practical strategies to help institutional leaders navigate critical decisions, overcome barriers to change, and confidently implement modern solutions that drive long-term institutional and student success.

Practical Strategies for Institutional Leaders

Institutional leaders often face competing priorities and internal resistance when pursuing modernization efforts. The complexity of implementing transformative change can stall even the most critical initiatives. To overcome these barriers, leaders and the organizations they partner with must instill confidence through predictable and high-quality delivery. This confidence begins with defining clear outcomes that align directly with the institution's strategic goals and should be reinforced at every stage of the modernization journey by showcasing measurable value.

Requirements for delivering with confidence include utilizing proven methodologies and integrated project management, while maintaining a strong focus on change management. And in fact, the lack of effective change management is one of the top reasons modernization efforts fail. It takes a focused effort, and users open and ready to work differently, to deliver successful outcomes. It is critical not to shortchange the people component of these efforts.

To summarize, here are some key factors for success:

• Deep Dive in Discovery: It is important not to minimize the Discovery phase of these initiatives. I am not suggesting it is worth the time and effort to document every current state process in detail; however, it is critical to understand the unique institutional requirements and technical environment any new solution needs to operate within. Discovery also provides clear input into the overall estimates and a roadmap to achieve your goals.
• Embrace Baseline Business Processes: Stay away from ‘Like for Like’! This approach is a recipe for complexity and customizations that will drive up cost for the initial implementation, on-going support, and limit future agility. Simplify and standardize processes while reusing proven customizations only when necessary. At Ellucian, we have focused on extending Higher Ed standard capability models to assist in this process. Our HEEAR (Higher Education Ellucian Architecture Reference) model is leveraged to quickly bring clarity to industry standard process, how our solutions enable them, and then provide a way to capture your specific needs in the form of a Customer Architecture Reference Model.
• Create a Joint Project Management Office and Governance Model: Start with an integrated team across IT, the business, and your solution partner. Create a governance model and an Integrated Project Schedule that serve as the guide for execution, ensuring project management is tightly coordinated. Set the tone of partnership from the start – one team focused on solutions and outcomes. These projects will require pivoting and solving unexpected challenges and it is this clarity on joint success, teamwork and trust that makes a world of difference when it matters the most.
• Ample Testing Time: Allow for thorough testing aligned to each capability you are modernizing. Starting from the clear requirements you captured in Discovery and Design at the start of your effort, ensure time is planned to execute the business processes with cycles to fix issues and retest as appropriate. Automation should be leveraged where feasible to avoid unnecessary time spent by already stretched functional and technical users. It is less costly and disruptive to fix issues before go-live and yet there are times where a business process is not exercised fully until months into a production deployment. Plan for additional support and monitoring any time a critical process is run for the first time.
• Integrated Change Management: Modernization efforts must transcend mere technology investments, enveloping the entire institution to foster successful change. At its core, change is a profoundly human process, and even the most groundbreaking innovations can encounter resistance.
• A simple formula to keep in mind: Resistance = Loss > Purpose. Has the case for change tied to higher-level purpose been made clearly enough? The key to overcoming this is securing strong, visible, top-down sponsorship by institution leadership at all levels and a clear 'why'. Engaging end users early and frequently helps in gaining their input and commitment which is essential for smooth transitions. Furthermore, providing clear and consistent communication about the future state is imperative to ensure adoption.

These strategies offer institutions a clear and predictable pathway for transformation, enabling leaders to confidently navigate the complexities of change. By emphasizing these elements, institutions can deliver with confidence at every stage of their modernization journey.

A Case Study of Success

Institutional leaders can gain valuable insights from successful digital transformations like that of Colorado School of Mines, a public R1 research university specializing in applied science and engineering. Mines migrated its on-premises Student Information System (SIS) to a cloud-based SaaS model to address rising costs, time constraints, and resource limitations. By moving to the cloud, Mines sought to streamline operations, enhance system reliability, and optimize its use of institutional resources.

While the journey was not without challenges, by applying the keys to success I articulated above, Mines went live in 16 months. The impact of this modernization and digital transformation has been profound. "Going live with Ellucian Banner SaaS marks a pivotal advancement in our technology strategy, bringing a new level of reliability and innovation to Mines' student services," said Andrew Moore, Chief Information Officer at Mines. "With a cloud-based SIS now at the core of our operations, we're able to streamline processes and optimize resources, all while delivering a more intuitive, responsive experience for our students and staff."

A dedicated project management team was crucial to the transformation's success. By learning from Mines' experience, other institutions can navigate digital modernization more effectively while avoiding common pitfalls.

Modernizing for the Future

Modernizing higher education is imperative for future generations of students and the longevity of the institutions that serve them. Strong leaders and change agents are needed to drive the adoption of new solutions and effectively manage this change. Choosing the right partner for this journey is crucial. We are proud of Ellucian's history and dedicated focus on serving higher education, and our enduring commitment to partner for the long-term success of institutions to unlock learning for all.