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The IT Odyssey: A CIO’s Quest for Integration

The IT Odyssey: A CIO’s Quest for Integration

Sing to me, Muse, of the university CIO with all the IT tricks up his sleeve, CIOdysseus.

Sacking Troy was nothing compared to the feats CIOdysseus performed every day, moving his university into the future, while keeping all aspects of campus tech humming smoothly.

If the IT gods sent a challenge his way, CIOdysseus solved it handily, and so he was renowned far and wide for his cunning and skill.

But the gods would not be overshadowed by this hero, so they cursed him with the longest and most tedious IT issue of all.

Data and application integration.

10 long semesters CIOdysseus labored mightily to transfer data between the varied apps and databases of his institution, fighting the ill will of the gods.

His IT team struggled with the oars of manual data transfer, while he kept them safe from the siren song of integration tools designed for business, and not for higher ed.

He navigated carefully between the whirlpool of custom coding, that would suck away all internal IT department time and resources, and the sea monster of outsourcing, that would eat up departmental budgets in one bite.

He outsmarted the Cyclops, a lumbering, slow-witted monstrosity born of cobbling together various different integration solutions piecemeal – an existing API here, a custom-coded integration there, with some manual data transfer thrown in as well – and all with the constant danger of compromised data quality.

He did dally for a time on the island of Circe, but never succumbed to the same fate as many of his colleagues from other institutions of higher ed – being turned into a raving animal doomed to inarticulate frustration over integration woes.

For after all his labors and wanderings, CIOdysseus finally found the solution, the answer to this ultimate challenge from the IT gods. With his unmatched cunning, he recognized it at once as the key.

What was this miraculous solution, this gift from a sympathetic IT god?

None other than N2N’s API Management Platform, Illuminate.

As its very name foretells, this integration tool illuminated the path CIOdysseus needed to take, showing him the secrets of simple and quick integration.

This glorious weapon in the battle for integration bore a design upon its glittering surface, to let all who saw it know of its storied past. As CIOdysseus gazed upon it, he saw images of other universities and colleges who had been aided by its implementation – entire states who had made use of it in innovative new projects, integrating systems from every community college and state university across their states, in order to improve student outcomes. He saw smaller, individual institutions who had utilized N2N’s Illuminate to work smarter, not harder, or solve a data transfer problem that was crippling their productivity and accuracy – and thus, their student success.

These tableaus showed CIOdysseus that this was the correct course to take, and so, in his wisdom, he called N2N.

If you, too, noble warrior, have been afflicted by the IT gods and have embarked on your own quest for the perfect integration tool, journey no farther. Here at N2N, you can put down your oars, remain safe from monsters, and manage your institution’s integration needs simply, quickly, and affordably, with the full support of N2N along the way. Call us today, as the mighty CIOdysseus did, and be glad at heart, hero.


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What All the Buzz Was About At Elive 2019

What All the Buzz Was About At Elive 2019

Who doesn’t love a good conference?!

They’re almost like company-sanctioned mini-vacations – travel, eating out, hotels, excitement, a change from the everyday…and this was New Orleans!

And then there are the more practical benefits – informational and inspirational keynotes and workshops…networking opportunities…and the chance to chat with your target market to find out exactly what problems they’re looking to solve, and share with them how you could help them do just that!

As an Ellucian Partner at Elive 2019, we definitely felt the excitement and buzz had been ramped up this year. That was probably at least partially due to the fact that the event was held in beautiful New Orleans, and featured surprise marching band performances and jazz bands everywhere you turned – but we also felt it in the number of attendees who stopped by our booth to talk, and the enthusiasm they all showed when we told them about Illuminate, our API management platform.

Yes, we know – excitement around an API management platform?

It sounds pretty nerdy, but it’s easy to get excited about Illuminate when you see how it can help your institution solve a major problem, save a ton of time and money, or create something startlingly innovative in order to better serve your students.

That’s the moment we live for at these conferences – chatting with someone about the crushingly time-consuming task of manually importing data, or the uniquely challenging way their institution has to handle certain data, or the thrilling new project they’re planning – and then watching their excitement grow as we show them how simple it is to fix their problem or bring their project to life with Illuminate.  

Illuminate, simply put, is an integration tool. It allows you to integrate any and all of your apps, programs, and databases with each other so they can communicate seamlessly – so you don’t have to worry about manual data transfer or data quality assurance, and are free to innovate.

We’ve helped colleges set up scheduled SIS to SaaS web-service transfers and automate .csv exports…simplify and streamline data transfer processes to free up resources and save massive amounts of time and money while increasing data quality…and create exciting, complex new projects allowing students to complete their degrees more easily and quickly.  

In the end, it’s not about the data, or the process, or the platform. It’s about the people. It’s about empowering the people in your institution to better serve the people in your student body. Everything else is just a tool to reach that goal. That’s why we were excited to connect with so many people at Elive this year -and that’s why we’d love the chance to connect with you, too. Contact us today to let us know how we can best help the people at your institution, and to try a free demo of Illuminate today.


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We Dare You To Visit Us At Elive 2019 and NOT Make Changes At Your Institution

We Dare You To Visit Us At Elive 2019 and NOT Make Changes At Your Institution

When was the last time you went to a conference, talked to a vendor at a booth for a few minutes…and then went back home and immediately started making major, earth-shattering changes at your institution based on that conversation?

It may not be common, but it’s a story we hear from our clients all the time.

See, at N2N, we offer something much more than a product or service.

We offer inspiration.

We offer possibilities.

We offer a brighter future.

And it all starts with that Aha! moment at a conference like Elive.

Many of our clients have told us that they didn’t even know they needed a solution like the one we offer – didn’t even know something like it existed. They had been trying to solve a problem on their own, struggling to cobble together solutions in-house, or hiring various vendors. But nothing worked.

And then they visited our booth at Elive.

Minds.

Blown.

They hurry home to implement sweeping changes, and are universally thrilled with the results.

So what is it that N2N offers them, that has such an impact?

The Illuminate Platform.

Illuminate is beautiful in its simplicity, really.

But that’s also what makes it so powerful.

It’s an API Management Platform, which means that it allows users to integrate any apps, databases, systems, and programs at all – whether it’s a legacy, on-premise SIS that needs to be integrated with a brand new SaaS app, or several cloud-based programs that need to be able to communicate.

And when we say “users,” we’re not talking IT guys or programmers.

Nope, Illuminate lets anyone – seriously, anyone – integrate apps and programs in minutes, with no coding required.

You read that right. No hiring programmers for weeks of coding, no IT department swamped with integration work for months – Illuminate allows regular folks to easily snap pre-built APIs together in minutes, and get applications communicating in no time.

Trying to integrate Slate with Banner? PowerCampus with Modo Labs or Coursedog? Want any student data feed to automatically be shared with the databases that need that info, so your team can focus on work more important and strategic than data entry and data quality assurance?

Then you need to get yourself over to our booth, number 935, at Elive, post haste.

We’ll tell you more about Illuminate, and answer any questions you might have. We’ll share stories, like the one about California Community College’s Online Education Initiative, where Illuminate will make it possible for the State of California to offer 2 million students a simple way to shop online for courses offered at any of the 114 institutions in the California Community College system, no matter where they are enrolled as their home college. N2N is implementing the infrastructure for the community colleges to provide real-time data exchange for course searches and the cross enrollment application.

And all this can come from just a few minutes of chatting at Elive.

So what on earth are you waiting for?! Make a note in your planner – put it on your calendar – set a reminder on your phone – heck, tie a string around your finger if you need to! Just make absolutely sure you stop by the N2N booth, number 935, at Elive 2019.

We dare you to chat with us and not make any changes afterward.

See you there.


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The platform you didn’t know you needed

The platform you didn’t know you needed

Have you ever heard of Vitamin K2?

No?

How about calcium?

Of course, right?

Did you know that without Vitamin K2 to regulate its storage and distribution around the body, calcium can actually cause heart disease and cancer?

It’s true. Here we are, giving calcium all the glory, when the whole reason for its benefits is this little-known but crucial vitamin, toiling away quietly but powerfully in the background!

K2 is responsible for putting the calcium where it needs to be – strengthening bones and teeth, for example – and keeping it away from the places it shouldn’t be, like our arteries and kidneys.

It’s the necessary conduit for the safe transmission of calcium all over the body, making sure everything is working the way it’s supposed to now, and safeguarding our bodies for the future.

You might be surprised to learn that in your organization, things work the same way.

The calcium in your organization is the data flowing through all the different apps and programs you use.

If you have them integrated now in a piecemeal sort of way, so the data flows between some but not others, then your organization is K2 deficient.

You’re in danger of calcium build-ups where there shouldn’t be calcium build-ups – data entry bottlenecks or apps that don’t communicate at all.

At N2N, we provide a Vitamin K2 supplement for your business.

Our Illuminate platform is that quiet but powerful conduit, steadily working in the background, getting your data where it needs to go in order to ensure your organization’s health.

Just as Vitamin K2 is crucial to our bodies, an API management platform like Illuminate is crucial to the smooth functioning of your organization.

It allows laymen with no IT experience to snap together APIs in minutes with no coding needed, in order to integrate any apps and programs with any other databases and systems – so the data can get where it’s needed.

It may not be a flashy new customer-facing app – the Vitamin B12 of the tech world, say – but by serving the same purpose as Vitamin K2, Illuminate fills a role essential to any organization.  

It strengthens your bottom line.

Just as K2 puts calcium to good use strengthening your bones and teeth, Illuminate allows your data to work for you at its full potential. By streamlining processes and making sure data instantly gets to wherever it’s needed, Illuminate strengthens your bottom line.

It enables experimentation and innovation.

Strong bones allow you to take on all kinds of adventures and challenges safely. In the same way, Illuminate gives you the support your organization needs to be able to innovate and experiment with new apps freely, without having to worry about IT costs or a lengthy integration process.

It protects you against future health issues.   

Keeping calcium away from danger zones and flowing to the spots where it’s needed, K2 helps to ensure your health for decades to come. Illuminate also prepares you for the future, by making the addition of new apps and programs easy and quick. Whatever new tech the coming years may bring, Illuminate allows you to continue to grow and prosper.

So, although you may not have even known you needed a platform like Illuminate, it’s not exaggerating to say that it can truly make or break your organization. From increasing revenue today to ensuring a solid future, Illuminate is just the vitamin boost your organization needs to succeed. Contact us today for a demo.


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The N2N Manifesto

At N2N, we believe in the promise of the future. We believe in making innova
EnlightenEd

The N2N Manifesto

The N2N Manifesto

At N2N, we believe in the promise of the future.

We believe in making innovation easy and accessible.

We believe in empowering businesses to take risks in the pursuit of growth…

…and in helping to make those risks safe bets.

We believe in removing unnecessary, outdated obstacles to growth and innovation.

We believe in making business processes more efficient…and more accurate at the same time.

We believe that tech should make things easier, not harder – simpler, not more complex.

We believe in letting tech handle what tech is best at…

…and letting humans handle what humans are best at.

We believe in providing revolutionary technology…and good old-fashioned customer service.

We believe that tech should serve people…your team, your customers, your students…make their lives easier and better, and open up new possibilities for them.

We believe that growth is a natural result of building real relationships and supporting and empowering people.

 

Our solutions were designed with this manifesto in mind, and our team is guided by these ideals every day.

At N2N, we’re passionate about what we do, because we serve a worthy cause.

We serve you.

And how do we do that?

Our solutions make integration easy.

The Illuminate platform completely removes IT from the equation, when it comes to trying out new apps and new programs. It enables businesses to integrate new apps with their existing databases and systems in minutes, with no coding involved – and to remove them just as easily if they’re not the right fit.

With the problem of integration solved, teams can experiment and innovate freely, trying out new apps until they find the perfect fit. There is no risk, expense, or time constraint. There is no downside.

N2N makes innovation easy.  

If you ask our leadership team what N2N stands for, you’ll get different takes on the same vision, the same mission:

From Kiran Kodithala, CEO:

N2N is committed to supporting organizations worldwide by providing tools to support innovations that will result in higher efficiencies and better solutions to enterprise customers. N2N’s offerings focus on secure, turnkey, enterprise data integration and these solutions are specifically built to enable cloud, mobile, social, and wearable integrations. The core commitment of enhancing efficiencies, by focusing on secure data interchange, is strongly supported by the company’s pledge to always listen and adapt to the needs of the customer.

From Joel Dunn, VP Technology, CTO, CISO:

N2N’s leadership team members are technologists, eager to use tools to help improve business processes, but we are also sharply focused on higher education. We understand higher education, having worked supporting institutional business processes for many years. This passion for technology, married with an understanding of how things work in higher education, is one of the keys we bring to the table with our product, Illuminate.

From Danielle Whitney, VP Business Development:

N2N is committed to solving the integration challenges of our customers through innovative products and customer-focused delivery.  Our leadership team has both breadth of experience and a depth of knowledge in higher education technology and integration to uniquely solve the myriad of challenges faced by our partners and customers. Combining our industry expertise with dedication to our customers is the key to our continued success.

 

At N2N, we’ve started a revolution.

We’re making innovation accessible to anyone, regardless of budget, size, or tech expertise.

Join the revolution. Call N2N today.


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