Tim Copeland's Blog on College & University Marketing and Enrollment Management

Big Data Enrollment - Higher Ed Lessons from the 2012 Election

Is there a better example of pipeline management than the 2012 election? Big data is being heralded as the difference maker for the Obama campaign – a highly disciplined effort that drove overwhelming response from key constituencies. What are the lessons for higher education?

First, both camps early on put out all encompassing RFPs for CRM software – what better way to build deeper relationships with constituents, in this case voters.

Well, actually no this isn’t what happened and ultimately is one of the key missteps that separates the winning Obama camp from the challenger.

Strategy

According to Judith Hurwitz writing for BloombergBusinessweek, “the Obama campaign seemed to have a strategy and plan for not only how data would be collected but how the information would be used.” The Obama campaign early on decided what questions needed to be asked in order to get deep insights and identify predictive outcomes.

At a recent conference I attended, much of the discussion centered around “MOOCS” (Massive Open Online Courses) and the anticipated impact on higher education. One speaker noted the amount of data that would soon be available about students – how and when they are engaged in the course.

Yet, for many institutions this data is already available from existing learning platforms (e.g., logins, content engagement), portal activity (e.g., enrollment, payment) and campus behavior (e.g., dining halls, building access).

The issue is not a lack of data or technology but rather a strategy of what to do with it.

Planning

Both camps attempted to use big data as a strategic weapon. The Obama campaign began building their prospect pool some four years ago after the 2008 election. While mass advertising can be effective for finding people you don’t already know, communicating to those that self-identify and express interest is better. Communicating in a relevant way is the best. As Gordon Crovitz writes in today's Wall Street Journal:

When the Obama campaign emailed supporters to join a $40,000-a-ticket dinner in June at the New York home of actress Sarah Jessica Parker, journalists at ProPublica noticed something odd. They uncovered seven versions of the email solicitation for the fundraiser, some mentioning a second fundraiser that night, a concert by Mariah Carey, others that Ms. Parker is a mother, and still others that Vogue editor Anna Wintour would be at the dinner.

Who got which email depended on "big data"—information about each fundraising prospect and how different people react to different messages. In this year's election, it looks as if the Obama team's use of such data was one of its biggest edges over the Romney effort.

Now consider the DemandEngine research we released this summer. In a secret shopping exercise of 127 institutions and their undergraduate admission offices, we received over 1,200 direct mail pieces and email within a three-month period. Only 41 messages - yes 41 messages - out of the 1200 referenced our student's stated academic preference.

Execution

For both campaigns, the technology was to be the secret weapon to get out the vote. Yet, both campaigns didn’t execute equally.

One of the difficult lessons the Romney campaign learned was that if you don’t execute well, it doesn’t matter how sophisticated your technology is. The Romney campaign built a Big Data system intended to track which supporters had voted and which ones needed to be contacted, writes Hurwitz.

However, the campaign was tripped up by people, process, and technology challenges. The software couldn’t scale to the needs of the volunteers and volunteers had trouble accessing the system. 

We call it managing the funnel or pipeline in higher education. It’s the ground game for political campaigns.

The overall lesson? Strategy before technology

In our secret shopping research, many of the institutions are "doing CRM" using software from well-known, higher education specific vendors.  Yet, software alone does not a relationship make.

“The Romney campaign put its faith in a sophisticated technology engine believing that would compensate for a weaker ground game. In contrast, the Obama campaign had the luxury of a well-tested Big Data strategy combined with a strong ground game. Managing data is not a simple exercise. You can’t depend on either technology or process alone.”

Datatel + SGHE Merger Update

Wild rumors, alarmist blog posts, and uncertainty is driving a lot of industry interest and online traffic about the Datatel + SGHE transaction. One blogger has even gone so far as posting information about how to track company changes (layoffs) through LinkedIn.

To get the latest updates, I had a chance last week to speak to former SunGard HIgher Education colleagues Michelle Reed, Senior Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer, and Laura Kvinge, Vice President Marketing about layoffs, company direction, and rebranding.

When the transaction close was announced in January there was an article on Philly.com that indicated that layoffs were on the table and then a clarification in the Washington Business Journal that came out shortly thereafter? Were your comments reflected in the way that you intended?

Kvinge: “What that story was about and what I was talking to the journalist about was the day that we closed the transaction, there was a rumor that we were laying off hundreds of people through a big massive layoff, which was absolutely incorrect. And at that time, that conversation was very much geared toward the common sense of aligning businesses, and that it will take time. And as of that day on that close, those reductions were fewer than 40 people.”

 

In the announcement back in August the company touted some 3,000 employees in some 40 countries worldwide. Given the fact that both companies compete in the same space and similar technology and service offerings, it it fair to say that you will have somewhat less than 3,000 employees with the same or expanded global coverage?

Reed: “So, one of the things that I will tell you is that while we announced in August, and we didn't get through the regulatory approval until early December. So, from that period, from August to December, I know people tend to think that we must have been doing so much work and so much planning together. We couldn't. The reality of it is there were a tremendous number of conversations that couldn't take place. And so, we got through the approval process. And frankly, getting a leadership team in place was the next stage that had to take, that had to occur for the business, and getting clarity of who is going to be in those leadership roles and who is going to be helping bring the business forward.”

 

So this is an important point, the combined company has been at this – rationalizing the organization, understanding the technology portfolio – for less than 60 days?

Reed: “That’s correct. Some people have been put in roles and are trying to work through this process. Now, we're still pretty early in the integration process. Right now, there are still lots for the business to think about and thinking about how we operate, how we best serve our customers, and how we communicate with our customers. From a marketing perspective that we're looking at. How do we communicate who we are? There are different methodologies for keeping customers informed about where we're going, what road maps look like, how we're investing because there's quite a bit that we need to work through, and the intention is not to... We don't want to break things. We don't want a bunch of broken glass all over.”

 

Are there any particular areas that the leadership team is focusing on?

Reed: "Each of us on the leadership team is focused on our areas, and we keep in pretty close contact across the functions. And we're looking at how do we optimize our own organizations, how do we work across the business to ultimately benefit customers. Being able to look at smart ways to leverage some of the things that we are doing across both of the businesses is really important to us."

 

Let’s talk CRM. Oracle purchased Right Now Technologies, a strong software-as-a-service platform, and in December Hobson’s bought Intelliworks. With Datatel’s success with the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform (Recruiter), what is the future of Banner Relationship Management (BRM)?

Reed: "Really, what it comes down to is that they (Recruiter and BRM) are solutions that meet very different needs. Recruiter is very much focused on the early stage of recruiting and admissions, where BRM focuses more on the holistic life cycle."

 

What message do you have for customers who may be concerned about their past technology investments through either company?

Reed: “As we've talked about, this combination of bringing the businesses together, we've been very consistent in reinforcing just a handful of promises to the market. So, the first one is investing in the primary solutions our customers rely on. We understand that one size does not fit all.

Second, that we were going to find ways to bring together the global community to benefit all of its members. That's really important to us. So, a lot of the initiatives of the businesses are focused on sharing - taking advantage of and finding ways for the community itself to leverage the value. Very important in finding ways for that community to work for the greater good, and then, providing access to a broader portfolio solution. And providing options and choices to customers is very important, and then, finding ways to accelerate innovation.”

 

When can customers, and the industry in general, expect to see the rebrand?

Reed: “It’s  been quite eye-opening for all of us thinking about the complexity of branding a company in today's age. So, it's been a fascinating and wonderful, and very challenging learning exercise, I think, for those of us in the marketing team who's been part of the process because there's so many disconnected processes that we have to think about. There's the creative dimension of it, and coming up with a name that conveys the essence of who we want to be and become, making it sort of aspirational. There is the own-ability and protect-ability element of the brand as well.”

Kvinge: “It's really interesting to see the effects that a new brand has in energy and kind of motivation because people (inside the company) are excited about... Even though they don't know what's happening with the name, or what the company will be called.”

While Reed and Kvinge would not specifiy a timeline for the rebrand, it's possible that an announcement will be made at this week's Summit in Las Vegas.

Layoffs Up Next for Datatel and Sungard Higher Education?

With the SunGard Higher Education systems purchase complete,are layoffs far behind?

On Monday, San Francisco-based private-equity firm Hellman & Friedman LLC bought the Malvern, Pa.-based higher-education software company from SunGard Data Systems Inc.  for $1.775 billion. SunGard Higher Education was merged with Datatel, a current Hellman & Friedman portfolio company, to operate in the near term as Datatel+SGHE.

While the combined company boasts some 3,000 employees in 40 countires, a report on Philly.com indicates that layoffs are on the table. "It is fair to say that there will be some roles in the combined company that will be redundant," according to Datatel+SGHE spokeswoman Laura Kvinge. "Our goal is to minimize the number of job reductions" through attrition and transfers, as the company seems to expand "globally," Kvinge added.

Under a debt-overhang from the 2005 purchase of SunGard Data, Silver Lake Partners and other big private investment firms have been under pressure to show returns for their $11.3 billion investment, reviewing buyers for its remaining businesses, which include SunGard Availabililty (data backup and security), SunGard Financial (trading and financial systems) and a government-services unit.

Given the prior success of the two former companies, Datatel+SGHE executives will try to take advantage of economies of scale resulting in redundancies and yes, employee layoffs.

Given some of their public statements and the nature of mergers/acquisitions, I expect executives to work on rationalizing their technology portfolio while 'repositioning' the employee talent pool to better anticipate technological shifts as well as to improve Datatel+SGHE's ability to compete globally.

At least, that's the plan. As author Larry Bossidy has said, "Strategies are intelluctually simple, their execution is not." For my former colleagues at SunGard Higher Education and acquaintances at Datatel, here's hoping for a smooth transition.

Datatel and SunGard Higher Education Close Transactions to Combine their Businesses

Hellman & Friedman, Datatel+SGHE, and SunGard Data Systems today announced that the transactions to combine the businesses of Datatel and SunGard Higher Education have closed. As a result, more than 3,000 employees will be dedicated exclusively to delivering solutions to education institutions in 40 countries.

The newly formed company will have a new name, which will be launched in the first half of 2012. Until that time, it will be referred to as Datatel+SGHE.

As previously announced, John Speer, former president and chief executive officer of Datatel, will serve as the new company’s president and chief executive officer. Ron Lang, former chief executive officer of SunGard Higher Education, will serve as vice chairman of the board of directors. Drawing talent from both companies, a management team with decades of higher education experience will lead the company.

Datatel+SGHE plans to continue to invest in the current solutions of both companies including Banner, Colleague, and PowerCampus administrative systems as well as Advance. In a  FAQ accompanying today's announcement, the company makes a commitment to collaborate and innovate with customers and also "... make decisions that are right for the customer and for the business."

As I posted back in August 2011, I expect the combined technology portfolio to be evaluated and rationalized and eventually customers may see an upgrade path for different software solutions.

Access additional information about today's announcement below:

Download Datatel+SGHE Press Release(71.5K)

Download John Speer's Letter to Clients (64.8K)

Download Frequently-Asked-Questions (48.3K)

 

Top Enrollment Marketing Blog Posts of 2011

As 2011 winds down, here's a look back at my most trafficked blog posts of the year:

Over the past few years, it’s been difficult to attend a higher education enrollment management or marketing conference without at least one ‘expert’ spouting that [insert age group] doesn’t read/use email anymore - this despite actual research from my own company, DemandEngine, as well as Noel-Levitz demonstrating otherwise.

In Who Says Email is Irrelevant? Not Facebook, a January 2011 post, I wrote about Facebook's June 2010 'about-face' on the topic of email marketing and their announcement of facebook.com email addresses.

Marketing to adult learners has traditionally been a 'build it and they will come' proposition. Colleges and universities carve out institutional access by creating new enrollment pathways outside of the traditional day-student undergraduate model. Q&A: The New Enrollment Marketing Plan for Adult Learners posted in February 2011 is a question and answer transcript for a webinar I presented on behalf of the University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA).

In April 2011, I wrote about how associations across the country are reporting declines in renewals and new member growth. In Does Membership have Its Privileges? Raising the Bar for Today's Higher Education Association, I raise the question for colleges and universities considering their memberships and offer some ideas in a DemandEngine white paper.

Given the interest in higher education CRM, this next article was the most heavily-trafficked posting of the year. In Five Things Your Higher Education CRM Vendor Doesn't Want You to Know, I write about topics any college or university should consider if a purchase is under consideration including CRM's checkered past and how many higher education CRM vendors don't even use their own technology.

One of my personal favorite postings of the year comes courtesy of Craig Maslowsky, VP of Enrollment Management and Marketing at Excelsior College. In Social Shilling and the Temptation of the Higher Education Vendor, I wrote about Craig's posting in a LinkedIn group for references and recommendations on CRM technology and the aftermath that follows. Sorting through the ridiculous (example: Leads360-"We are the only enrollment management solution designed for schools that compete for students"), I contacted Craig along with Keith Hampson, the founder of the Linkedin Higher Education Management Group for their thoughts.

The year 2011 saw a wave of higher education vendor mergers and acquisitions ranging from Datatel-SunGard Higher Education, Oracle and RightNow Technologies, and most recently, Hobson's acquisition of Intelliworks. In August 2011, I reported on a 'tip' I received through web analytics prior to the Datatel-SunGard Higher Education merger announcement.

Finally, I believe that it's always instructive to watch how other industries tackle similar questions and challenges. In Social Skepticism? Research Note from the Nation's Retailer, I write about retail eCommerce trends and recent report from Forrester Research including an increased level of skepticism around the role of social networks in driving sales.

Thank you to the many loyal readers of my blog. If you are not a subscriber, I invite you to enter your email address in the top, right-hand corner of the screen to receive automatic updates of new postings.

Merry Christmas and have a safe and enjoyable New Year.

Hobsons Acquires Intelliworks

Higher education technology consolidation is in the air.

Today, Hobsons, a leading provider in recruitment, communication, and student success software for colleges and universities, announced its acquisition of Intelliworks, a leading provider of relationship management solutions for higher education.The acquisition adds Intelliworks' expertise in non-traditional higher education environments.  

Craig Heldman, chief executive officer of Hobsons, Inc., highlights, “This transaction will enable us to deliver more value to the clients of Hobsons and Intelliworks by blending the expertise and product knowledge of two proven industry leaders. The combination will benefit the higher education market and expand Hobsons’ ability to bring success to education through innovation, leadership and partnerships. It will also enhance our efforts in graduate, professional and continuing education and executive education, where Intelliworks has established a significant presence.”    

The combined entity, operating as Hobsons, will deliver a suite of integrated solutions for managing the entire student lifecycle.Hobsons and Intelliworks are committed to satisfying all existing client needs, delivering world-class service, and providing clear and easy upgrade paths to future solutions. As part of the transaction, Intelliworks’ Chief Executive Officer Todd Gibby will join Hobsons as managing director for higher education, responsible for leading the company’s higher education business.

“Combining Intelliworks’ and Hobsons’ resources and experience will enable us to deliver innovative, flexible, and scalable enrollment management solutions for every type of institution, including individual programs and departments within an institution,” added Gibby. “On behalf of the Intelliworks team, we are delighted to join Hobsons in serving academic institutions and helping to transform the way they engage with prospects, students, and all members of their communities.”

Financial terms of the deal were not released.

Degrees of Failure and Choosing the High School "Major"

Is it time for high school students to start choosing majors? A significant number of American teenagers graduate from high school unprepared to take their next big steps toward adulthood, according to a study by researchers at The Johns Hopkins University and the University of Arizona’s Center for the Study of Higher Education.

More than 40 percent of high schoolers do not follow a college preparatory track or take adequate career and technical education courses, and these missed opportunities can leave young people at a disadvantage after graduation when they enroll in college or look for a job, according to Stefanie DeLuca, an associate professor in the Department of Sociology at Johns Hopkins, and Regina Deil-Amen of the University of Arizona.

Creating an underclass of students

“This group is a virtual underclass of students who are neither college-ready nor in an identifiable career curriculum,” DeLuca said. “They are likely to depart from high school having taken classes mainly from the high school general curriculum in which they received little to no job preparation or guidance. This group is also less likely to enroll in college, but if they do, they enroll at a remedial level and leave before earning a degree. Either path places them at risk for failure.”

DeLuca and Deil-Amen’s study, “The Underserved Third: How Our Educational Structures Populate an Educational Underclass,” was published by the Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk in April 2010.

Analyzing data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study along with other studies, DeLuca and Deil-Amen found that today’s high schoolers fall into three categories: those on a college preparatory track, making up an estimated one-third of the student body; those who prepare for the post-graduation labor force through career and technical education programs, making up a quarter of the student population; and the more than 40 percent of high school students who don’t have access to adequate college preparation or occupational training.

The college-track students were disproportionately white and of higher socioeconomic status, and the most unprepared students were the poorest, disproportionately underrepresented minority students, immigrant English language learner, and first-generation college students.

For some students who delay preparation for four-year colleges or jobs while in high school, two-year colleges seem like a second chance. Some students manage to meet the requirements for highly selective two-year community college programs or make it through expensive occupational programs at for-profit colleges—both options can prepare them for more lucrative jobs. However, many others end up in less selective two-year degree programs and often don’t complete the requirements. When they do, such programs may lead to less economically rewarding jobs, DeLuca and Deil-Amen wrote.

To combat these problems, the researchers support the fusion of both career and academic curricula in high school to provide more feasible methods of opening up career and college options for all.

Georgia's 17 Career Pathway Clusters

The state of Georgia is about start requiring ninth graders to pick a career path and follow a class schedule that's at least partially tailored to it. Georgia's career pathway clusters include:

1) Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources

2) A/V Technology and Communications

3) Architecture and Construction

4) Business, Management and Administration

5) Education and Training

6) Finance

7) Government and Public Administration

8) Health Science

9) Hospitality and Tourism

10) Human Services

11) Information Technology

12) Manufacturing

13) Marketing, Sales and Service

14) Public Safety and Security

15) Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

16) Transportation, Distribution and Logistics

17) Energy

The objective is to raise career and college readiness for all students. Career pathways initiatives of some degree are already in place in most states. But next fall will be the first time that they become a mandate for all Georgia ninth graders.

State of Georgia School Superintendent John Barge and key lawmakers say the state has to make this move, if students are to have hope of getting the jobs of the future -- nearly half of which are forecast to go to people with an associate degree or occupational certificate.

“We must change how and what we do in K-12 education,” Barge said. The status quo isn't working, given the remedial courses required of many Georgia college students and the business community's complaint that many graduates entering the work force lack essential skills, he said.

What the Datatel and Sungard Higher Education Merger Means

What does the Datatel and Sungard Higher Education merger mean for higher education?

After being "tipped off" a couple of days prior to last week's merger announcement through web analytics data, it's been interesting to "watch" what's on people's minds through their ongoing web searches and social chatter.

Web queries range from information seeking - "datatel purchase sungard higher education," to searching for analysis - "what does the datatel sungard higher education mean."

Watching the twitter feeds, comments range from partner well-wishes:

... to less enthusiastic responses:

What happens going forward? Here are five questions (and answers) to consider:

1. Was this expected by the market?

For higher ed IT veterans and vendors, this merger is probably not a surprise. With the number of big ERP deals vanishing over the last few years - and outside of organic growth of new products and services - what better way to gain market share and lock-up annuitized service and software maintenance revenues.

Since Ron Lang's arrival at the helm of Sungard Higher Education, some industry observers expected that his task was to get the company into shape for acquisition or to take public if the market turned. He apparently did his job well.

It is also positive sign that Mr. Lang - a SunGard veteran - will continue on with the new company in the role of Vice Chairman of the board.

2. What changes do you expect to see?

In the near term, not much. In the carefully worded merger announcement, the companies pointed out that for the foreseable future both entities will work independently. Sungard Higher Education and Datatel customers have certainly been burning up the phone lines since last week asking their account managers and company executives for insight.

Don't expect much as both companies are limited in what they can say about the future.

In addition to regulatory hurdles, executives will be working on transition plans, evaluating technology portfolios, and assessing their teams.

3. The combined company touts a combined work force of some 3,000 employees. What should employees expect?

In 12 - 18 months, don't expect the companies to be touting 3,000 employees. In mergers, investors typically look for productivity gains (e.g., layoffs) as they combine functions.

Keep in mind the end game of most private equity investments. Reduce costs, gain market share, and make the company attractive for bigger fish - whether that be an initial public offering (IPO) or purchase by an even larger company or investment entity.

4. Will I have to upgrade?

Both companies have strongly reiterated that their customer investments "will be protected." Now, what does that exactly mean is to be determined. Consider the following tweet:

Once company executives have evaluated their combined technology portfolios and create a development road map going forward, expect migration paths from certain software products.

As an institution, I wouldn't take this to be a negative. If decisions are made to sunset some existing technologies, good. Customers will likely be offered incentives to move to better technologies.

And I suspect there are a lot of commissioned sales people within Datatel-Sungard Higher Education that cannot wait for these details.

5. What will be the name of the new company?

From Datatel to Systems and Computer Technology Corporation (SCT), the new name will likely have nothing to do with their technology heritage. Rather they will look for - or create - a name that encapsulates people, service, and higher education.

Datatel and Sungard Higher Education Announce Plans to Combine Companies in a $1.775 Billion Deal

It's interesting what you can learn when you "listen" to your web analytics.

I saw the following Google search a few days ago in my blog analytics: "datatel purchase sungard higher education"

Where there is smoke there is fire ...

Today, Datatel and Sungard Higher Education announced today that they have signed definitive agreements to combine businesses and operate as one company focused exclusively on serving education institutions. Billed as a strategic combination, this action brings together two of the dominant ERP technology and services providers in the higher education space.

“Combining the resources and talent of these two quality companies will enable us to be more responsive to the changing environment and challenges facing education,” said Datatel chief executive officer John Speer. “Together we will be able to better serve the global education community.” Speer will serve as the CEO of the combined company and will lead the day-to-day operations.

According to a joint press release, affiliates of private equity firm Hellman & Friedman LLC will acquire the SunGard Higher Education businesses from SunGard Data Systems Inc. for an aggregate cash purchase price of $1.775 billion and combine the acquired businesses under a new holding company with Datatel, an existing Hellman & Friedman portfolio company. 

The combined company will operate under a new name that will be announced by the parties at the closing of the transactions.

What Does This Acquisition Mean for SunGard Higher Education and Datatel Customers?

Datatel-SunGard Higher Education will continue to develop ERP-independent solutions that work with our administrative systems (SunGard Higher Education Banner and PowerCAMPUS; Datatel’s Colleague) as well as those from other vendors.The company will continue to deliver on the development plans committed to customers.

For more information, see the frequently-asked-questions document released by Datatel.

Acing Classes to Make Money ... Arbitrage Enters the Classroom

Putting your money where your <performance> is, has taken on a whole new meaning. Two New York entrepreneurs are offering college students the chance to wage on their expected grades and profit (or lose) from the results. Ultrinsic.com lets college students bet on their own academic performance in one or more courses, or on an overall grade point average.

Last year the web site attracted wages from 600 students from two colleges. The site has been expanded to let students on 36 campuses place bets.

How does it work?

1. A student enters his grade point average and all courses enrolled in that quarter.
2. He then selects the class he wants to be on, a target grade and the payout he hopes to receive.
3. Ultrinsic then runs an algorithm based on his GPA and the course grading history.
4. The student is notified how much of a wage is required for the desired payout.

Legal? Maybe. Opportunistic? Absolutely.

It isn’t clear whether the web site targeting higher education would be considered illegal under state and federal laws. Federal law prohibits financial institutions from transmitting payments to and from gambling businesses that are unlawful under state law, and state laws generally bar betting on unlicensed games of chance.