TRANSFORMING HIGHER EDUCATION DATA PROCESSES
Higher Education must file reports to the government at varying time scales. The compilation of these reports requires an enormous amount of data. Statutory reporting requires data on students, staff, courses, outcomes, teaching quality, student/staff ratios, fees, utilisation of campus resources, energy usage efficiency and much more. In our experience with higher education institutions, we have found a general government trend of increased reporting frequency, instead of the standard annual report. In the UK, the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) data futures project is being introduced. This will require in year reporting submissions that answers 240 in-depth questions. Compiling this report can be a logistical nightmare for Higher Education planners, as data (the quality of which can not be determined) must be gathered from different faculties and then amalgamated together. So the major challenge at hand involves setting up a process of compiling trustworthy data in a quick time frame and then developing the report effectively.
THE ALTERYX SOLUTION
Advantages
Self service model maintained internally
No programming skills needed
Fast Engine, repeatable workflows
Combine Data sources
What-if scenario planning and predictions
Fast Deployment
Single point of truth
IMPLEMENTATION APPROACH
Prerequisites
Complete the Implementation prerequisites
Prepare for proof of concept (obtain accesses, map processes)
Proof of Concept
Start with FREE trial of Alteryx
Build skeleton of model
Prove Alteryx is the right solution
Develop and Deploy
Purchase 1 Alteryx Designer License
Build fully working automated solution based on requirements and visualise results for analysis
Deploy the model
Training of users for self-maintenance
Advanced Shareable Solution
Purchase Alteryx Server license along with a few more designers
Easily share the model with others
Give other departments the access to build their own
Leverage Alteryx for other processes
SOLUTION BENEFITS
In our experience with higher education institutions, we have found a general government trend of increasing reporting frequency, instead of the standard annual report. In the UK, the HESA data futures project is being introduced. This will require in year reporting submissions. This requires universities to have a system in place of continuous reporting.
Billigence, with our software partners Alteryx, have developed an end to end system of data governance that greatly improves the efficiency of compiling government reports. Our solution ensures that data is cleansed and prepared so that it can be trusted at source, clear roles within the reporting process are allocated to custodians, business terms are clearly labelled and processes are automated as much as possible (to reduce human error and improve data quality).
“Billigence have proven themselves to be a strong and consistent partner, always accommodating and delivering value above and beyond our expectations whenever there’s a need. We have built a strong relationship with the team which will continue to grow as Billigence support our strategic objectives towards becoming a data driven University.”
“Getting Billigence on board has proved to be an excellent decision. They’ve had the skills, experience and tools to tackle some of our long-standing data challenges and quickly solve them. They’ve really moved our management conversations forward, busting some myths and helping us to focus on the real challenges.”
“Billigence’s approach to enabling my team to use Alteryx has been first class. We never felt lost in the complexity of the process and Billigence was able to teach us and show us what we needed to do simultaneously. It was also great fun. We made far more progress in one working week with Billigence than we had dreamed was possible at the start of the project. Undoubtedly we will become avid Alteryx users and keep our link to Billigence’s expertise on student number planning to ensure our University prospers.”