Business Context
When two or more universities merge, it is absolutely critical for the merged entity to unify their individual systems for comprehensive, seamless and efficient operations. Such an approach will ensure holistic and harmonized students’ journeys and effective personalization to improve enrollment, engagement and retention across the merged entities.
The Client
Our client is a leading US-based educational institution for more than 75 years, offering programs in 12 countries and 21 cities around the world. With a goal to develop students academically, professionally, and culturally to become our next generation of thoughtful, thriving leaders, this institution focuses on academic and experiential learning excellence. It offers a blended slate of co-curricular and field-based activities and is committed to faculty development and engagement.
The Situation
Following the merger with another leading institution of higher education, our client underwent significant organizational changes, including a leadership transition. While it had its own Salesforce systems and keenly adopted new Salesforce to enhance its operations, it needed to rapidly integrate and align the other entity’s disparate Salesforce systems for post-merger efficiency.
Specific challenges included:
- The complexity of consolidating of separate and parallel Salesforce instances with distinct processes.
- The need to integrate multiple disparate and standalone systems with Salesforce.
- Inadequate alignment of different business processes across both organizations .
- The imperative for a rapid and efficient go-to-market implementation to minimize disruption and maximize impact.
- Constraints of cost efficiency in integration, while ensuring future scalability.
Mastek was chosen as the transformation partner, given our long-standing strategic partnership with the client.
The Solution
With its depth of expertise and successful experience in Salesforce implementations, Mastek executed the following:
- A collaborative review of both organizations’ workflows to define an optimized and unified business process.
- The design and execution of a strategic Salesforce integration plan, leveraging Education Cloud features.
- Replacement of legacy lead management systems with Salesforce Education Cloud’s robust lead and opportunity tracking to improve applicant conversion visibility and streamline student enrollment.
- The automation of billing and pricing management through Integration of Microsoft Dynamics 365 with Salesforce to reduce manual effort and improve invoicing accuracy.
The Results
Mastek’s solution delivered the following impactful outcomes:
-
Unified CRM system:
The single, integrated Salesforce platform provided a 360-degree view of students, partners, and operational workflows. -
Improved operational efficiency:
Automation and optimized workflows reduced manual effort and improved turnaround times. -
Enhanced decision-making:
Automation and optimized workflows reduced manual effort and improved turnaround times. -
Accelerated time-to-market :
A seamless transition ensured quick adoption with minimal disruption. -
Industry alignment with best practices :
Salesforce’s Education Cloud’s updated data model enabled the client to meet the unique needs of the study abroad sector without extensive customization. -
Cost-effective implementation :
The leveraging of existing Salesforce capabilities minimized additional costs while maximizing value.
