So Long, SaaS
By David Hinson
The biggest trend in higher education technology that I see for 2016 is a continuing consolidation and – in some cases, outright disappearance – of many well-known Software as a Service (SaaS) providers, at least as they are currently organized and constituted.
Household service names that schools have relied upon extensively, such as Dropbox and Evernote, are no longer “Unicorn” darlings among investors, and are now scrambling for pathways to long term relevancy and sustainability.
Many such companies began their lives as consumer-facing services, not enterprise class systems; what once seemed easy and safe institutional solutions, may soon have serious and non-trivial downstream effects, as these service companies pivot and seek long-term market stability, visibility, and viability.
This year has seen realignments, spin offs, and sales of leading vendors in the K-12 space (Pearson and Sungard spring immediately to mind), that I believe are precursors to what will happen with higher education software and services providers.
For the higher education technology professional, it is another troubling data point, in a procurement process that is already complicated by the essential need for shared governance and long, drawn out, decision-making cycles.
“Getting it right” may simply come down to being lucky in your choices, rather than solely being able to rely upon your acumen as a seasoned, savvy administrator.
David J. Hinson is the Director of Technology Services at Yeshivah of Flatbush dhinson@flatbush.org Twitter:@davidjhinson
An Eye on Analytics
By Justin Beck
Learning from Data: Being able to easily access and export data from ‘open’ learning tools will no longer be a nice to have but a requirement for all those in the ed tech ecosystem. The days of closed silos are gone. Institutions, providers and students all have a vested interest in getting access to as much useful data as possible. With the launch of the IMS Caliper standard, all players will be expected to expose their caliper events to smart analytics systems that produce actionable insights.
The analytics tools shake-out: The term ‘analytics’ will come under greater scrutiny as actionable analytics move center stage. Many tech providers claim to offer analytics tools but very few of these help institutions improve outcomes, retention, and engagement. Actionable analytics are where the real value lies.
Mergers and Acquisitions between institutions: M&As in the ed tech space are pretty routine and now it’s the turn of our educational institutions. The Georgia Board of Regents, for example, has already merged a few institutions. The efficiencies that can be gained by collapsing K12 districts – or even institutions of higher education – are becoming more compelling.
‘Open’ Lecture Capture solutions will gain in popularity: The old school, locked box approach to Lecture Capture is making way for a new generation of systems thanks to the advent of the IMS Open Video standard. These new ‘open’ Lecture Capture solutions run on more affordable commodity hardware, making it possible for institutions to deploy them in many more rooms (both traditional and online).
Higher Ed Tech will cascade down to K12: Pioneers in the K12 space will expand their adoption of technologies traditionally associated with higher ed institutions and will continue to embrace Software as a Service (SaaS) delivery models. This includes education video platforms that help with student engagement, video delivery and management needs.
Justin Beck is the VP of Global Education for video tech provider Kaltura.
Lesser Knowns Rise to the Top
By Robin Mamlet
Big Data’s big impact: Higher Ed is adopting Big Data methodology in everything from student recruitment and retention to new hire assessments. Helping institutions understand how data can inform key strategic decisions, data specialists and strategic analysts are now sought-after hires. But with the power of Big Data come big ethical questions.
Where lesser-known colleges top the top tier: Schools that are not household names are often more open to innovation and more likely to experiment than better-known institutions according to Mamlet, who said, “The hungrier schools often innovate first, the lesser-known schools often initiate the newest higher education trends.”
Incubators and collaborators: Universities are developing incubators as “safe spaces” to experiment in meeting new challenges, serving new populations, forging new partnerships, and educating in new ways. Collaboration among educational institutions is growing, domestically and internationally.
Diversity makes a difference: Diversity issues are galvanizing students on campuses across the country while institutions are striving to better understand diversity in its multiple forms and on multiple levels. Colleges and universities are creating or elevating executive roles for diversity, equity and inclusion to address diversity’s complex, nuanced, and challenging issues.
Too big to fail? The hiring process is more high-stakes than ever as filling leadership positions at colleges and universities can be a matter of institutional survival, an urgency that is driving salaries higher. The Chronicle of Education reports that salaries for private college presidents rose 5.6 percent in 2013.
Robin Mamlet is the managing partner of Education at the executive search firm Witt/Kieffer. Directing search assignments for presidents, provosts, deans, chief advancement officers, chief enrollment officers and other senior leadership roles, Mamlet is immersed in the evolving pressures, challenges and opportunities that Higher Ed leadership faces.
Supporting Collaboration and Lifelong Learning
By Nicole Nesrsta
Delivering a personalized experience for lifelong learning: Due to the proliferation of new and more cost-effective devices available, technology is in the hands of more students and faculty than ever before. But how can schools take advantage of this phenomenon and not miss out on crucial possibilities for higher-level learning? IT teams need to capture the opportunity that these devices provide, and find the tools and solutions to provide an equal, yet personalized, learning experience for every kind of student from those in K-12, to incoming freshmen and students at colleges/university, returning adult learners and PT working students.
Providing a variety of learning and collaboration environments: With budget cuts and funding challenges, institutions are looking for different solutions to teaching, learning and collaborating with their constituents while continuing to increase enrollments and revenue. Institutions will need to look to provide a variety of learning/teaching environments to support learning/teaching styles as well as multiple on/off premise locales. For example, when students are selecting classes, they are not actively thinking, “I’ll take this class that is live, in the classroom, and then I’ll take this one that is online and then this one that is offered at the downtown campus.” Students want to enroll for classes and consume them in the way that works for their schedule and lifestyle in a given semester. That may be live in some circumstances, online in others and maybe even on-demand after a class has finished. CIOs and other institutional leaders ( ie. Chief Academic Officers, Provosts) will be looking for solutions that make this model easier for faculty to deliver and for students to consume information.
Nicole Nesrsta is Lead Verticals Solutions Marketing Manager at Citrix. Nicole is credited as a leader in solutions and vertical marketing and strategy in the high-tech industry.
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