EnlightenEd

Is Your Institution Ready For Gen Z?

Is Your Institution Ready For Gen Z?

Have you noticed how the generation wars have begun to heat up on social media lately?

Poor Millennials have been picked on for their generation’s perceived failings for years, but the newest up-and-coming generation, Gen Z, has suddenly come into its own and seems to be spoiling for a fight.

With the rise of the dismissive comment “OK, Boomer,” and their unflattering nickname for Gen Xers – the Karen Generation – Gen Z has managed to start an all-out generational frenzy online.

Of course, it’s the exact same angst that every preceding generation has gone through – it’s just that this generation has the tools and the know-how to get their thoughts and feelings out there like never before, as well as the expectation – and reality – of being listened to by a limitless online audience.

And it’s precisely that difference that colleges and universities need to cater to, in order to attract this new generation to their institutions.  

Boomers were still completely analog in college, and Gen Xers first experienced the internet as young adults. But Millennials were digital natives, growing up with the internet, so you’d be forgiven for thinking that campus IT changes made for them would still apply to Generation Z. 

But you’d be wrong.

Gen Z takes being a digital native one step further. They were born into a world of smartphones, social media, and remote workers, and they’ve been using smartboards, tablets, flipped classrooms and other online learning environments since they started school. They are used to being constantly connected, and to having instant access to any and all content or tools they need, no matter where they are. They have grown up within a completely seamless tech landscape, in which real-world interaction and online interaction are interchangeable.  

As they make the transition to college, they expect the tech on campus to keep pace with what they’re used to – and not only to keep pace, but to outstrip whatever their local high school had to offer. 

What does that mean for your institution?

  • It means every app, tool, and platform your students need to access must be mobile responsive. 
  • It means you need platforms that make it easy for professors to share the content from their classes – from syllabi and lecture outlines to actual live streams or audio recordings of classes for those who are absent.  
  • It means your school needs to meet the expectation of this generation that everything they need to succeed is always at their fingertips.

Of course, universities have a much more complex IT ecosystem than your students’ old high schools. And that can make some of these asks seem impossible, or at least impractical – especially when you take integration needs into consideration.

But that’s where N2N’s Illuminate platform comes in.

Illuminate makes it easy for you to integrate any new apps, databases, or platforms with your existing systems, so that adapting with agility to the demands of the next generation is a snap.

No custom coding needed. You just point Illuminate to the new app’s APIs, navigate the configuration forms, and get seamless communication with your entire SIS ecosystem – seamless being the key word here. Exactly the experience Gen Z expects – and exactly what you need to affordably, quickly, and easily ramp up your campus IT. 

Contact us today to find out how we can help you.


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Achieving Eudaimonia

Achieving Eudaimonia

 

When the mind is thinking it is talking to itself. 

Plato

On the surface, philosophers and entrepreneurs do not have much in common.  When we think of a typical philosopher – we envision someone clad in a loincloth, thinking and brooding on his own, shunning society, writing books, and disconnected from the world. Philosophers question everything; they engage in discussions and communicate their radical ideas through their books and rhetoric; they are not afraid of taking risks, and they take a firm stance on their ideas on the most incomprehensible topics. If you need any examples of just how radical these philosophers were – look up Nietzsche’s (in)famous quotes on God, and Schopenhauer’s perspectives on love, or Rene Descartes’  spectacular skepticism as to whether his own existence was an illusion. Philosophers truly transform the world with their ideas, visions, and belief systems. The more we think about it – successful entrepreneurs do the same. An average entrepreneur behaves the same way that a philosopher does, reimagines the world with his/her ideas, and innovates with his/her own products and solutions. 

Here are some commonalities between philosophers and entrepreneurs:

  • Philosophers and entrepreneurs question the status quo. Entrepreneurs create products and solutions that are designed to change the world we live in.
  • Philosophers and entrepreneurs are not afraid of taking risks to present their visions to the world.
  • Philosophers and entrepreneurs engage in discussions and communicate their radical ideas through their rhetoric. Philosophers do so through their books; entrepreneurs do so through their speeches, emails, social media, and personal communications.

After I came to this realization of how similar philosophers and entrepreneurs were, I searched for articles with more information on applying philosophical ideas to entrepreneurship. I was hoping that I would find tons of articles, whitepapers, books, and other artifacts similar to the content available on ethics and entrepreneurship. But I was disappointed with what I found in my search – only a handful of articles on the subject exist. What’s more, these articles just scratched the surface of rhetoric, uncertainty, risks,  communication, etc. There haven’t been many articles on philosophy and entrepreneurship, even though there is a wealth of knowledge that the average entrepreneur can garner from this rich subject. I decided to lead the way and start writing articles myself, to begin this journey.

Let’s turn the clock backward, all the way to 300 BC, and meet Plato.

About 2,400 years ago, Plato contemplated the human condition – and its cure. Plato believed that most humans live their lives impulsively, and compared each of us to charioteers dragged by blindfolded, wild horses. Most of us can guess what these wild horses are – love, fame, money, greed, envy, and other impulses that drive some of us (and probably most entrepreneurs). In fact, some would argue that these wild horses are the keys to the success of some of the leading entrepreneurs of our times. My favorite entrepreneurs, Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Larry Page, can probably attribute their successes to these wild horses. Plato believed that while these wild horses are needed to be successful, a fulfilled life can be achieved only if we remove the blindfolds from these horses and tame them to meet our purpose. The result of this process is Eudaimonia (Greek: εὐδαιμονία [eu̯dai̯moníaː]), sometimes anglicized as eudaemonia or eudemonia /juːdɪˈmoʊniə/, a Greek word commonly translated as happiness or welfare; however, “human flourishing or prosperity” and “blessedness” have been proposed as more accurate translations.

According to Plato, Eudaimonia can only be achieved by thinking deeper and getting past superficial motivators. True happiness comes from getting past these superficial external factors and traveling inwards. This inward journey should focus on being within – by engaging with your true self, in its rawest state. The journey will run into many obstacles, from multiple directions – but your biggest enemy for this progress will probably be your inner voice. I can’t speak for others, but this was the case for me. I was confronted with all sorts of emotions and distractions when I began this journey, and I only completed a couple of blocks out of a 100-mile marathon.

Thinking deeper is easier said than done, for most entrepreneurs or business professionals in general. We are routinely fighting tactical fires, handling strategic decisions, dealing with employee issues, supporting board oversight, and handling client challenges, all while performing our duties and tackling administrative issues. Unfortunately, the overhead and resource demands on a typical CEO are much worse in the startup stage, as most startup CEOs have to perform multiple roles within the company to bring about process efficiencies and keep costs low. Most CEOs of tech startups specifically play the role of CMO, CFO, CRO, and sometimes even roll up their sleeves to get into project management and application development as well.  Plato understood that this self-reflection can be hard at times, and he recommended following a process of inquiry called the Socratic method. After much deliberation (and extreme resistance), I decided to try this method and answer some of the questions that have stayed with me since I was a child. My first step was to write them down, and some of them were obvious. However – my inner voice continued to distract me and discourage me from this exercise. My inner voice just wanted to get back to work, or if there was free time, binge-watch GOT for the second time. I tried to shut it down, but documented my inner voice, too – as much as the inner voice was a detractor, it’s part of who I am, as well.

  • What’s my purpose in life?
    • Inner voice: Who decides this purpose, BTW? If you (or I) decide it – then, why does it matter?
  • How do I define a successful life? 
    • Inner voice: More importantly – what is (y)our definition of success? I just want to chill out on a beach and play golf.
  • Are my life choices predetermined? 
    • Inner voice: If they are predetermined, why can’t you(we) just chill out, dude!
  • What will happen after my own death?
    • Inner voice: Does it truly matter? Once you are dead, it’s lights out for us!
  • How do I keep my family happy?
    • Inner voice: Good one! Tell me when you find out. You(we) could use some help here.
  • How do I attain a truly fulfilled life?
    • Inner voice: Plato – need help! I can run and get you a Venti Frappuccino if that helps.
  • How can I become the best version of myself to my utmost satisfaction?
    • Inner voice: Isn’t this the same as a fulfilled life? You are thinking too much, Kiran!

Some of these are deeply personal, as you can imagine. As you can see, my inner voice continued to make things harder on me by being sarcastic at first, and at times downright confrontational, and uncooperative as well – it kept pulling me towards that tempting remote. I turned on some music, hid the remote from the inner-self, and decided to use the Socratic method – so I called a friend. I feel privileged to have a few of these friends in my close circle, some that I went to elementary school with, and some that I met during my college years. It’s very important that the person you engage in the Socratic method is your confidant, who inquires without judging you, listens without preconceived notions of any kind, and most importantly – this person should be at a similar (or higher) philosophical elevation as you, in order for them to understand and appreciate your inquiries. I feel fortunate to have a friend who is more enlightened than me, and equally curious as to the nature of the world and our place in the human ecosystem. I began the journey with this friend and then continued on with my inner thoughts as they evolved, documenting them on the way, and discussing when needed with my friends and close circle.

This process allowed me to focus enough to reach the first draft of my answers to these questions. I am pretty sure those answers will change over time – sometimes these changes may take years, and sometimes they might change in a couple of days. Regardless of the changes, this approach to documenting the information can be helpful when we face big challenges and milestones that can shake us to our core.

During the formative years of my business, I ran into several issues where most of my advisors and even close friends made predictions about my company’s insurmountable upheavals. We were trying to build scale in a vertical that’s very hard to convince, and the sales cycles were too long for a startup to thrive and succeed.  There were a few times where I felt like giving up and believed that this battle might not be worth hanging on to. I saw a dark scenario where I would lose my entire life savings, my family home, my reputation, and everything I stood for, barring a few miraculous developments. During these dark times, I even contemplated giving up, and cutting my losses – but every time I thought about it, my combative inner voice woke up and reminded me of my purpose.  Every time I was reminded of that purpose, I decided to shake off the negativity and commit myself to fight harder, aim higher, and never giving up.

My own personal journey taught me that defining the purpose of a company is crucial for the success of a startup. Having clarity of purpose allows the founders to focus their resources properly during the initial stages of the company. More importantly, it allows them to weather the dark clouds and keep fighting until they reach their targets. Unfortunately, some startup founders confuse purpose with outcomes. Some assume the purpose of the company is to become rich, famous, powerful and respected.  As important as these outcomes are, they are not the same as purpose. In short – having a clear purpose for the company will allow a CEO to realize his/her Eudaimonia

If you are a CEO looking to build your purpose statement, I recommend starting the following questions to build your company’s philosophy framework:

  1. What’s the purpose of my company?
  2. How do I define success for my company?
  3. Is my company predetermined to be successful?
  4. What will happen when my company shuts down?
  5. What’s the nature of a happy employee?
  6. What’s the path for my Eudaimonia (fulfilled life)?
  7. How can I become an Übermensch (“superhuman”) to reach my fullest potential?

If you need help writing answers to these questions, let’s go back to Plato. Plato recommended 4 big ideas to reach this fulfilled state. Let’s consider these, from an entrepreneur’s perspective:

  • Think Strategically – Plato called for individuals to Think More and get past the superficial desires to have the most expensive car, the biggest house, or the most powerful job. According to Plato, true happiness comes from getting past these superficial external factors and traveling inwards. This inward journey should focus on engaging with your true self, in its rawest state. Some people might find it difficult to travel this journey on their own, but they can find a good friend or companion who can help them on this path by asking them the right questions and helping them focus. Plato followed this method of inquiry in his writings, especially his most-read work – The Republic. Plato’s method of Q&A is called the Socratic Method and it’s used even today – 2,400 years after his time.

For the modern CEO, I modified this to Think Strategic – travel inwards to identify the soul of the company and engage with it to layout strategic objectives to support the growth of the company. Following the paradigm of avoiding Doxa (superficial excitements) by ignoring the temptations to take shortcuts to get rich quickly or to focus on the base instincts of money, power, and influence in society. Thinking strategically allows a CEO to become decoupled from the blindfolded wild horses of expediency, 

  • Learn from your team – Plato originally recommended “Learn from your lover,” which was somewhat radical at his day, when women were objectified everywhere. Plato, however, believed that a true relationship relied on two partners inspiring each other to become better versions of themselves.  

From an entrepreneur’s perspective, I think we can change this to “learn from your team,” instead. Some entrepreneurs overestimate their power of intuition, and this overconfidence can lead to serious troubles if the CEO makes impulsive decisions. This can be avoided by discussing those decisions with the team – whether it’s the directors, middle management, or the whole staff. Having an open dialogue with the team about critical decisions allows the whole company to be part of the decision-making process, and most importantly, provides the CEO with an ability to learn from his/her team.

  • Appreciate and use art – Art has the power to make us happy. It’s a simple truth that when we see beautiful places, things, and people, we feel happy. In the same way, seeing unsightly places, events, and things can make us feel gross and unhappy. Plato believed that a fulfilled life should include engagement with the art of some kind – pottery, literature, poetry, music, dance, or whatever one’s heart desires is a vital component of every being, according to Plato. 

Successful CEOs should consider their product/service an art form, and perfect it just like one would perfect a poem, or literature, by focusing on every painstaking detail before putting it out for public consumption. Case in point – Steve Jobs considered all his products a work of art. He pushed his staff to focus not only on external appearances and details but the internal hardware as well. He chastised them about the symmetry of the motherboard layout, the color of the invisible screws, and focused on every single detail. Steve Jobs was a maestro, not only because of his attention to detail but also because of his ability to deliver presentations flawlessly. Underneath it all, he was an artist. He loved simplicity; he loved music, and he aspired to write poetry. 

  • Reform Society – Plato saw that the leaders in Athens were corrupt, immoral, and lacked the focus to truly support their citizens. He believed that a ruler needed to become a philosopher in order to be successful – or that philosophers themselves need to rule, as an alternative. Unfortunately, we see similar traits in our leaders 2400 years after Plato. While we cannot teach our leaders philosophy, we can implement these principles in our own actions. 

As a founder/CEO/professional, applying the rules of philosophy to your company/team/community can help us reform our own society. This can eventually lead to the utopian society that Plato believed in.

So, this is all great, but can philosophy help us answer the urgent, pressing, tactical problems of the modern enterprise? How can a “Philosopher CEO” operate in this competitive world with threats from all directions? Can these 2400-year-old suggestions possibly still apply to this modern world? Wouldn’t this make a CEO weak, and ultimately easily destroyed by his competitors? And most importantly – how can philosophy get me more customers and support the cash flow of a company?

Let’s walk through some of the issues and some of the philosophical questions CEOs face during their careers. Here are a few random questions I came up with, but I am sure there are a lot more for us to consider as we explore.

  1. You trust a manufacturing company to build your product line. The manufacturing company advises you that they have the trade secrets of your competitor, and they approach you with the opportunity to “buy” this from them for a cost. 
  2. An employee is due for his/her annual performance bonus in a month. He quits his job a month before his bonus was due. We are not obligated to pay him, as per company policies. 
  3. In your recent board meeting, you were informed that one of your competitors is gaming the system by allowing a flawed component in their product, and hence making their product more affordable than your product. You are presented with the opportunity to use this flawed component in your design to cut costs. 

 

In the coming days, I will try to apply the teachings of the great philosophers to answer my own questions as an entrepreneur. Please do feel free to provide feedback and advice on any additional questions I should be thinking of as I write this series. I don’t have a formal degree in philosophy and I certainly do not claim to be an expert in this ocean of knowledge. So, please pardon my errors and bring them to my attention. As Plato teaches us, one of the most important aspects of gaining wisdom is this: I know that I know nothing


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How To Maximize Your University’s Admissions Resources

How To Maximize Your University’s Admissions Resources

You know, you’d think that at an institution of higher learning, of all places, there would be some sort of exception to the whole ‘human limitation’ thing.

Colleges and universities exude an atmosphere of hope, ambition, excitement, drive, innovation, and endless possibilities. 

They’re the breeding grounds for dreams to come true, and bright new futures to be created.

Nevertheless, each day still only has 24 hours, and human beings can only do so much – even at a college.

And your beleaguered admissions staff can definitely attest to that.  

Given the Herculean task of keeping up with both the management of applications and student enrollment data, as well as marketing the institution to potential new students, they do what they can, and then some.

Manually inputting data…dealing with data quality headaches…fighting through integration hassles…wasting time looking up data in disparate databases…coming up with creative workarounds to keep the data straight…trying to fit marketing in somewhere…   

Come to think of it, they do already push the limits of human endurance!

But just imagine if you could give them a little boost – something to make those human limits a little less restrictive – and add some extra time back into their day.

Nope, we’re not talking about rejiggering Daylight Savings Time. We’re talking about a simple process automation that can relieve stress, get your data processed more quickly and accurately, and free up time for more strategic activities.

We’re talking about integration via the Illuminate platform.

We know, we know, you’ve already got integrations in place. But hear us out.

Illuminate is an API Management Platform that elegantly integrates every single one of your institution’s apps, databases, and programs, so that they can all communicate in real-time. Its IDMatch add-on module handles data quality assurance, preventing duplicate student records and finding errors. 

So just imagine:

Instead of spending time manually inputting data for a new student’s enrollment, only to find out that the student actually already exists in the system under a slightly different name, thus skewing the analytics data and creating another headache as the two records now need to be manually merged, and despairing because those marketing materials still need to be finalized and mailed out sometime this week…

…your staff can be laser-focused on strategic marketing activities based on your newly accurate, real-time admissions data, while Illuminate and IDMatch hum away in the background, instantly sending all the data input by applicants online directly to the correct apps and databases and checking it automatically against existing records for duplicates and errors.

For a modest monthly subscription fee, it’s like hiring an entire second admissions team to take over the tedious data management tasks sucking the time away from your current staff. 

And to be honest, you do get an entirely new team on your side when you use the Illuminate platform. N2N’s customer support is second to none, and we are always just a phone call away.

So while we can’t actually help you defy the limitations of human existence, we can help you make that existence much more pleasant for your admissions staff – and everyone at your institution. And that may be just as good. Give us a call today to see what we can do for you.


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4 Steps To Creating An Effective, Realistic Marketing Plan For Your Overwhelmed College Admissions Department

4 Steps To Creating An Effective, Realistic Marketing Plan For Your Overwhelmed College Admissions Department

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that an admissions department in possession of a reasonably-sized staff…probably still doesn’t have the resources to spend much time thinking about marketing.”

                                -What Jane Austen would have said if she’d worked in higher ed in the 21st century

What kind of growth in enrollment numbers do you think you’d see at your college or university, if your admissions department actually had the resources to focus on truly strategic marketing?  

It could be a game changer, right?

Realistically, though, most admissions departments just don’t have the time.

Sure, they send out periodic mailings and emails, and scramble to get a few other things done where they can.

But that isn’t their primary focus.

That can’t be their primary focus – because they have to keep the student enrollment data flowing.

They spend most of their day wrestling with student data – inputting it manually, checking it for duplicates and errors, moving it between apps and databases, and dealing with integration headaches.  

So, short of hiring an entire second admissions team to handle the marketing side of things, what’s a university to do? 

Here’s a 4-step plan that will enable your existing admissions staff to turn a strategic eye to marketing and boost its efficacy exponentially, while still accounting for the realities of data management.  

  1. Determine what your biggest resource drain is.

Before we can begin our new approach to marketing, we need to make room for it in the schedule. So take a hard look at the tasks your admissions staff handles every day. Which one or two take up the most time? Is it manual data entry? Are they dealing with data quality issues all day? Is it putting out fires in the existing integrations you’ve got in place? Find the top one or two time sucks for your staff. 

  1. Find a way to automate that process.

Now, take those one or two resource-draining tasks and find a way to automate them. And no, we don’t mean yet another piecemeal integration project. Look at the big picture, and find the smartest, most affordable way to create a single, unified system that deals with all your data issues at once. 

We’d like to humbly recommend that you take a look at N2N’s Illuminate platform, with its IDMatch add-on. Illuminate is an API Management Platform that integrates all your apps and databases so that they can all communicate seamlessly, in real-time – so no more manual data entry or integration hassles for your team. And IDMatch takes care of any data quality woes and worries, eliminating duplicate and erroneous records. For a surprisingly affordable monthly fee, you can easily take all the work that’s been overwhelming your admissions staff and automate it. It’ll get done more quickly and more accurately, and you’ll have your team’s undying gratitude. Win-win!

  1. Assess where your marketing efforts would be most effective.

Another benefit of N2N’s Illuminate platform is the easy access to accurate, real-time analytics data it enables. So not only will your admissions team have more time for marketing activities, they’ll have a more detailed picture of where those marketing efforts would best be spent. Which high schools send them the most applicants, or the highest caliber students? They’ll be able to build a data-driven strategy to target exactly the right audience.  

  1. Implement your strategy.

All that’s left now is to set that marketing strategy in motion. With exponentially more time available to your admissions staff, and all the data they need at their fingertips, they can forge ahead and ramp up those marketing activities – and your college can reap the rewards.

This 4-step plan isn’t just theory – we’ve helped college after college, university after university put it into practice, and we’d love to help your institution, as well. Give us a call today to find out more about how we can help you turn your admissions department into a marketing machine.


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Why N2N is better than yoga, chocolate, or wine

Why N2N is better than yoga, chocolate, or wine

We’ve all got our own ways of dealing with stress.

Some of us try to prevent it with morning rituals like yoga, meditation, or journaling.

Some of us mindlessly binge on our favorite comfort foods when stress and overwhelm hit.

And some of us break out the adult beverages at the end of a long, stressful day.

But there’s one kind of stress that is so severe, so unbearable, that it can’t be handled with any of those.

And that kind of stress is…  University Staff Back-To-School Stress. 

We can see by the wild look in your eyes right now that you know exactly what we’re talking about. You’ve probably just come through it yourself, sanity barely intact.

It really is too much, you know. Too much for any mortal to endure. 

The last-minute rush to get everyone enrolled, to get everything in place, to make everyone happy, and to ensure everyone’s data is correct and available everywhere it needs to be.    

And yet…it happens every year

Recent research studies have shown that each Fall, 5 years is shaved off each university employee’s life expectancy (well not really, but those studies should be there!), purely because of those first few weeks of back-to-school stress and overwhelm. Veggies, vitamins, Valium – none of it makes a difference. 

So what can you do? 

There is one way, and only one way, to eliminate the stress and counter the ill effects of high volume processes like Fall enrollment.   

And that is to call us here at N2N as quickly as possible.

Here at N2N, we like to think we’re the gurus of enrollment zen, and the prescription for back-to-school panic.  

We take a process that until now has been a universally dreaded, overwhelming mountain to scale…

…and turn it into a simple automated flow.

Our integration platform, Illuminate, allows us to set up an entirely automated process for your college or university, so that when students apply online, their data is seamlessly and automatically checked against your database for duplicate prevention, and then posted into your SIS.   

In fact, Illuminate can integrate every single app and system your institution uses. All that data, double-checked for quality assurance, flowing in real-time to every place it’s needed.

By itself.

No manual data entry or quality assurance processes necessary.

No custom coding necessary, either.

It’s all done for you, as simply and quickly as snapping together a few puzzle pieces.

You and your entire staff can take a deep breath and truly relax, knowing we’ve got it handled.   

Just imagine – no more nervous breakdowns, no more caffeine-induced hallucinations, no more recurring nightmares about August…

The horror is over.

You don’t have to fear Super Enrollment anymore. 

It’s going to be okay.

Just give us a call today, and we can walk you through a free demo, explain how it all works, and then give you a virtual hug – because we know you probably need it, after the August you’ve had. There, there. You’re gonna be just fine.


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What’s Your Institution’s Top IT Issue?

What’s Your Institution’s Top IT Issue?

It’s Monday morning.

And oh, is it ever a Monday.

You sit down at a table, ready for your first meeting of the week. And you can already feel it coming. You know what’s about to be discussed…and you know that you’re probably going to have to temper someone’s enthusiasm about a new project, and be the one to inject a dose of harsh reality into the conversation.

What’s the one IT obstacle that’s guaranteed to come up in every discussion about adding a new app, or trying any new approach to pretty much anything that involves tech?

What’s the one IT issue that makes you groan and reach for that third cup of joe, because it takes too much time, and too much money, but people want it done anyway?

Integration.

We know it, and so do you. And you know who else knows it? Educause.

In their list of the Top 10 IT Issues of 2019, Educause ranks Digital Integrations right smack dab in the middle of those top 10 issues, second only to mega issues like data security and student success.

And, unlike data security and student success, it’s an issue that’s often not understood to be the complex, necessary component of your overall IT set-up that it is.

Educause lists 3 common misconceptions you may be dealing with when it comes to integration. How many of these ring a bell for you?

  1. It’s quick and easy to deploy and integrate a new app. Yeah…no. As much as vendors like to promise that their app is super easy to integrate with your SIS, that’s just not the reality, with institutional IT ecosystems as complex as they are. Something’s gonna need some custom coding…which means time and money that was probably already promised to someone else’s project.
  2. Your IT team can easily set an accurate timeline for a new integration project. Well, I mean, you can set a timeline – it’s just that it’s pretty much guaranteed to change as you move through the project and come up against new issues and changing expectations.
  3. “What happens in departments stays in departments.” Nope, sorry. It may work for Vegas, but even stand-alone apps used by individual departments need to be vetted and integrated into an institution’s overall IT architecture.

So, here’s the thing. As you know all too well, these are all misconceptions…

…unless you have the right integration tool.

Having the right tool in place makes integrating new apps easy and quick, allows your team to accurately predict how long set-up will take, and even boosts departmental independence by empowering them to experiment with any new apps they’d like and innovate left and right, without having to beg for IT time and resources.

And what is the right tool?

N2N’s Illuminate app.

Illuminate allows your team to integrate apps in minutes without custom coding. It’s an API management platform that just completely removes the problem of integration.

It becomes a non-issue.

And instead of dreading those Monday morning meetings, you can look forward to sharing your colleagues’ enthusiasm over new projects.

So grab a celebratory cup of coffee and sign up for a free demo of Illuminate today.


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Tapestry of Integration

You know, we may be tech nerds here at N2N, but what people often don’t know is that we’ve got an artistic side, t