Platform Choices
Knowing when it’s the right time to move to a new ERP solution, and how to shortlist multiple ERP/SIS solutions available today.
ENTERPRISE STUDENT APPLICATION ADVISORY SERVICES
The Right Enterprise Application Solution for Your Institution
Your trusted partner for identifying, evaluating, selecting, and purchasing applications that best enable your students, faculty, and staff.
CHALLENGE
Aligning Application Decisions with Defined Institution Needs
Making the decision to replace an existing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) or Student Information System (SIS) presents multiple challenges, including identifying the best-fit application or suite of applications for your institution, evaluating options, and understanding the total cost of ownership (TCO).
Even after the application decision is made, you still need to negotiate the licensing and develop a cost-effective implementation plan that will not disrupt the campus learning environment.
This process presents many questions to be answered
Independent Selection
Receiving biased advice when existing IT partners recommend their own proprietary products as the solution.
Selection Approach
Lack of understanding of selection best practices to really understand how features and functions align to my institution.
Price and TCO
Inability to know what the right price is, including total cost of ownership (TCO), to be able to build the business case to purchase or switch.
RFP Management
Lacking the resources to put together a comprehensive RFP from construction through selection and negotiation.
Staff Expertise
Not having the right skills on staff to understand platform and deployment options, as well as how to manage implementation and integration.
SOLUTIONS FEATURES
Getting the Application Decision Right the First Time
OculusIT’s Enterprise Student Application Advisory service supports higher education institutions to make the right Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Student Information System (SIS), and Finance System decisions. Our vendor-independent application strategy, assessment, and selection service delivers an objective point of view on which application(s) will provide the best fit. We evaluate current-state technology, build a roadmap aligned with your future-state technology strategy, and guide you through the entire process, from selection through purchase and implementation.
As-Is Assessment
Review and document the environment, processes & workflows, stakeholder needs, integrations & data flows, risks, and gaps.
Future State Definition
Work cross-functionally to define the future business and technical state, aligning institution priorities with technical realities.
Option Identification
Review and identify application options that align with the agreed-to future strategy, using a vendor-independent evaluation approach.
Short-Listing
Down-select applications using a balanced scorecard that aligns technical and business priorities against total cost of ownership (TCO).
RFP Development
Build the Request for Proposal (RFP), aligning functional, technical, security, and support requirements to the future state objectives.
RFP Management
Manage or support the RFP process, from initial vendor communications through down-select, final selection, and purchase.
Vendor Evaluation
Score responses against established criteria and facilitate vendor demonstrations and stakeholder meetings to make final selection.
Contract Advisory
Review proposals, assist with negotiations on implementation scope, pricing/licensing, and contractual risks.
Implementation Readiness
Support the institution's IT team to align selected vendor’s implementation methodology with internal resources and capabilities.
Frequently asked questions
How much experience does OculusIT have specifically in higher education?
OculusIT has supported more than 200 higher education institutions with everything from application selection and management to managed IT services and IT outsourcing for more than 10 years and is solely focused on the higher education market in North America.
Does OculusIT provide implementation services to support the institution after the ERP/SIS selection process?
OculusIT can support the implementation of the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) or Student Information System (SIS) systems and provide ongoing management and maintenance of the selected systems. Additionally, OculusIT has expertise across nearly all higher education applications, including but, not limited to, Element451, Ellucian Banner ERP, Ellucian Colleague, Ellucian Degree Works, Slate CRM, Jenzabar One, Workday Student, Oracle PeopleSoft Campus Solutions, Anthology Student (SIS), Salesforce Education Cloud, Encoura Reach (formerly Anthology Reach), Evisions Argos, Microsoft Power BI, Tableau, Canvas LMS, Blackboard Learn, Moodle, D2L Brightspace, PowerFAIDS, and Ellucian Student Financial Success (formerly CampusLogic), and can help the institutional partner with integration and optimization of their specific, unique environment.
Does OculusIT provide its own Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) or Student Information System (SIS) platform?
No. OculusIT is vendor-independent; we do not sell, nor are we beholden to, any specific ERP/SIS solution on the market. OculusIT specifically supports implementation and ongoing management and maintenance of the selected platform. That said, we do offer our own analytics platform that integrates data from across university and public data sources to support institutional decision-making.
What is a typical timeline for ERP Strategy, Assessment and Selection Advisory service at OculusIT?
The assessment, strategy, and selection advisory process typically is completed within 8-12 weeks.