Modernizing Higher Ed: How Capacity-Led Models Unlock Strategic Growth

Modernizing Higher Ed: How Capacity-Led Models Unlock Strategic Growth

In today's dynamic business landscape, a successful transition to Software as a Service (SaaS) aligns people, processes, and technology to an organization's primary initiatives. This understanding forms the foundation for a capability-led approach—a model that significantly bolsters modernization efforts and other imperative institutional goals.

Strategic alignment and capability maturity are integral to driving future success across multiple industries, including higher education. This necessitates a thorough comprehension of an institution's existing capabilities, their correlation with strategic objectives, and their maturity level in terms of data, people, and processes. This pragmatic guide aims to demystify capability-led approaches to driving a business strategy and, ultimately, student success.

Shifting Focus: A Capability-Led Approach in Business Strategy

A capability-led delivery model amalgamates an organization's people, processes, data, and technology to accomplish tasks or functions. It's less about the functionality of a specific software and more about aligning its capabilities to achieve goals. This method prioritizes your organization's core functions while leveraging technology to streamline processes instead of impeding them.

In the past, it was common practice for higher education vendors to adopt a product-centric approach, attempting to fulfill an extensive list of requirements for the institutions they serve. This resulted in fragmented processes, underdeveloped capabilities, and data silos. Now, capability-led delivery models are paving the way for positive change management and digital transformation. By pivoting to a strategic goals approach, institutions can concentrate on their primary objectives and the ways in which technology can facilitate both staff and student success.

The Higher Education Capability Model (HECM) is a valuable tool for institutions to align their strategies with their capabilities. It delineates the capabilities necessary for higher education and offers a blueprint for businesses to construct their own customer architecture reference model. This model supplies an applications portfolio and charts out the best practice processes across all departments, from financial aid to information technology.

Effective Use of HECM for Business Technology Assessment and Strategic Alignment

The HECM can serve as a valuable tool for institutions to visualize, understand, and assign value to their technological requirements. For instance, a business operating with 38 applications involved in student registration could utilize the HECM to evaluate the necessity of each application. Additionally, the HECM can pinpoint any technological deficiencies, enabling institutions to rectify these shortcomings.

Strategic alignment offers a key benefit—the capacity to concentrate on future goals without being burdened by past concerns. By aligning capabilities with strategic objectives and applications, institutions can discern their strengths and opportunities and allocate resources effectively. This method also allows institutions to gauge their maturity level in terms of data, personnel, and processes and recognize areas that need enhancement.

For example, an institution might discover its application maturity is low, signaling a need for improvement in this area. Likewise, if the institution's personnel maturity is low, it might necessitate investment in training and development to boost this capability. Regular assessment of capability maturity enables institutions to monitor their progress and confirm they are moving toward their strategic objectives.

Another core component of strategic alignment is examining the full breadth of technology utilization. Examining the use of various technology solutions and juxtaposing this with their strategic objectives and capability maturity, institutions can extract valuable insights into the reasons behind their success or failure in achieving their strategic objectives.

Achieving strategic alignment and capability maturity isn't a one-time task. It demands continuous effort and dedication from all stakeholders. This includes frequent evaluations of capability maturity, perpetual enhancement of processes and systems, and an openness to accept change.

"We can't just continue to focus on technology for the sake of technology," said Stormie Wells, Director, Business Strategy and Operations at Ellucian. "We have to take a broader view and say this is the strategy we're trying to achieve. 'Are my decisions that I'm making from a technology perspective and a modernization perspective really helping?'"

The HECM serves as a crucial tool for institutions of all sizes, assisting in mapping out your capabilities and pinpointing your technology requirements. Through this method, your business is equipped and primed to accomplish its strategic objectives. Equally important is the focus on strategic alignment and capability maturity, which are vital for higher education institutions to thrive in today's competitive landscape. Concentrating on these elements empowers institutions to shape their future success and to be ready for emerging challenges and opportunities.

SaaS Innovators Series

Watch this three-part on-demand webinar series to learn how our solutions drive institutional success by putting learners first.

Map Your Modernization Investments to Strategic Outcomes
Watch Stormie Wells, Director of Business Strategy and Operations at Ellucian to learn how to transform your institution's strategy into actionable results, addressing challenges and maximizing the value of your programs.

How to Harness the Power of a SaaS Platform for Institutional Success
Discover how Ellucian's SaaS platform can empower your institution for the future by enhancing communication and leveraging AI, automation, and analytics

SaaS Innovator Panel: How Leaders are Embracing Future-Proof Technology
Learn from higher education leaders who successfully partnered with Ellucian for SaaS modernization, gaining insights on strategies, implementation, and transforming the campus experience.

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