Stage 1
Clear Educational Vision & Strategy

Aligning with the overall institution vision, goals and long-term plan

Why do I need a clear vision and strategy?

All universities, colleges and tertiary institutions have likely embarked on their digital transformation in some way, to varying degrees of success. Despite this, there’s still much confusion around what digital transformation is, and whether institutions really need to invest in it.

At the core, digital transformation is about finding the best way to leverage technology to deliver operational efficiencies for your staff—both academic and administrative—and superior services and learning outcomes for your students. Ultimately, it is an insurance policy against an institution becoming digitally irrelevant.

In short, digital transformation is an imperative. Without it, education providers risk becoming stagnant and unable to adapt to changing student demands and an evolving market where the value and relevance of education is being redefined.

Digital transformation will ensure that higher education facilities can continue to deliver critical services now and in the future, within the fiscal, technological and resourcing restrictions every institution faces. It deepens your institution’s resilience, helping you better prepare for events like the coronavirus pandemic that can upend traditional delivery modes.

But not every digital transformation strategy is made equal. Its success hangs on having a clear vision and strategy, from the outset. The strategy needs to be linked to the overall institutional mission, objectives and long term plan, which means having executive buy-in and sponsorship.

Where do I start?

Successful digital transformation is about more than just the technology: it will transform your people, culture and educational offerings as well. But the key is to start with strong foundational technology that will allow you to adapt and evolve to learners’ needs.

For many universities and tertiary institutions, an integrated Software as a Service (SaaS) ERP solutions is an attractive option for digital transformation — because it reduces the number of systems, simplifies the user interface and experience, removes all the different silos of data, and minimises complex integration.

By simplifying your digital core, your institution will be more agile and able to take advantage of technological trends to deliver a better learning experiences and research outputs.

Why SaaS?

Software as a Service will enable your business transformation, by moving staff from administrative, back-office activities to become more focused on the student experience and building strategic partnerships. A fully integrated enterprise SaaS solution lets higher education IT teams focus on the delivery of better services and outcomes, rather than trying to ensure the data from one system gets transferred to another.

This uniquely repositions staff as a conduit for bringing innovation into the institution to solve problems and improve services.

SaaS also ensures higher levels of service. The availability of systems that underpin your digital transformation need to be highly available, reliable, safe and secure.

Digital Transformation Hub

Our digital transformation hub is designed to provide you with the resources you need to prepare, enact and realise your digital transformation journey.

Start your digital transformation

The journey to digital transformation involves careful planning and consideration. We've devised four key stages to get you started and on your way.

Clear vision and strategy

Not every digital transformation strategy is made equal. Its success hangs on having a clear vision and strategy, from the outset. The strategy needs to be linked to the institution’s overall mission, objectives and long term plan, which means having executive buy in and sponsorship.

Make a business plan

Once you have outlined a clear vision and strategy for digital transformation, the next step is to build your business plan. A business plan is essentially your roadmap, outlining the steps needed to achieve your vision. You should approach it like an instruction manual, breaking your business plan into achievable and necessary steps.

Build a business case & gain executive sponsorship

You have the vision. You have the plan. Now you need to put it into action. Developing a business case that secures executive and organisational buy-in and approval can be the ‘make or break’ of your digital transformation.

Align with your IT strategy

Tick: your business case is approved. Before you get started, the last step of your preparation stage is to ensure your digital transformation strategy is aligned with your IT strategy. Failure to align these strategies will cause unnecessary headaches, roadblocks and delays throughout your implementation project.

Want to learn more?

Explore our industry page for more resources and advice on how SaaS can help drive your digital transformation.

Hear directly from your peers on how they started their transformation journeys.
Chief Technology Officer
La Trobe University

A clear vision is really important to understand the drivers for change, the opportunities your university is faced with, and the process that you need to work through.

Ready to learn more?

To take advantage of the opportunities SaaS ERP can offer your institution, complete the form to speak to a SaaS transition expert.