Open Architecture SaaS Advances Student Data Management, According to TopSchool White Paper

DENVER, Nov. 9, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Academic IT veteran and TopSchool Vice President Chris Chumley has published his latest white paper, Unlocking the Enterprise: Open Architecture SaaS in Higher Education, helping colleges and universities understand and embrace the power of an open Software as a Service (SaaS)   environment.  The white paper outlines the ways in which an open SaaS model enables schools to select the systems and applications necessary to meet the needs of their ever-changing student populations, drive maximum return on investment, and secure a competitive advantage.

"This revolutionary shift in network architecture means the old rules and assumptions about student data management no longer apply," said Chumley.  "An open SaaS model, which enables a core system to integrate with preferred applications, allows for complete student lifecycle management.  College and universities can benefit from a reliable, dependable, low maintenance SaaS model, plus they can customize and add on to both simplify and centralize student information management in a way that meets their individual needs."

Chumley points out that the traditional, monolithic application suites have put colleges and universities in an uncompromising situation, forcing multi-system adoptions often resulting in problems with integration, usability or no integration at all.  On the other hand, a SaaS approach, which becomes that much more powerful through an open integration architecture, enables a college to easily leverage either pre-built connections with leading business and learning applications or its own custom applications.  Colleges also can obtain greater insights into their operations by creating reports from a central database, across all integrations and applications.  

The advantages of an open SaaS model mean colleges can not only deliver a higher level of service to students, but they also can drive institutional success.  These benefits include:

• Supporting Students: An open SaaS model gives colleges the opportunity to constantly embrace new and advanced applications to meet the evolving needs of students and support them from start to finish.  
• Maximizing ROI: By creating a structure unique to colleges' own needs and processes, they don't have to pay for systems and applications they are not using. They also are not incurring costs for custom integrations in a closed system.  
• Staying Competitive: Staffing efficiencies in IT and across the institution mean that users aren't burdened with functionality they don't need, therefore giving them more time and resources to dedicate to recruiting and retaining students, as well as delivering and advancing programs to meet market demand.

About TopSchool

TopSchool (www.topschoolinc.com) built the first SaaS student administrative system in higher education to address the key aspects of the student lifecycle.  The company's Student Lifecycle Management (SLM) system goes beyond the capabilities of traditional college student information systems, and includes a customizable student portal, easy-to-use CRM and SIS components, and an intelligent reporting suite.  Schools can easily manage all student information from recruiting through retention in a central location, and they can deliver more student services more efficiently.  The TopSchool system gives student-centric institutions the power to direct their own administrative tools, empowering them to drive growth, reduce costs and meet accountability requirements.

SOURCE TopSchool