The covid-19 pandemic caused serious disruption for the entire education sector, with institutions and students having to rapidly adjust to new ways of working and learning. Operating with a highly dispersed student and staff population during that period presented universities and colleges with many challenges.
Research from InterSystems found that sharing data was the biggest challenge for 59% of institutions. However, with almost half of institutions (47%) saying they aren’t confident that all the systems within their organisation are well connected to each other, this is likely to be an ongoing challenge, even with students and employees back on campuses.
Their data issues don’t stop there. Many higher education institutions also face delays in accessing their data and are not using data to drive decision making as effectively as they could be. The knock-on effect of this for staff and students can be significant.
As institutions look to solve these issues, an encouraging 32% are planning to increase investment in a data management platform. Not only will this approach help universities to overcome those challenges, but it can ultimately also help them to enhance the student experience, making them a more attractive proposition.
InterSystems Campus Research Resources
Now is the time for HE institutions to take stock and make the changes needed to futureproof their organisation. Doing so can help them to improve the student experience, fully integrate data, and enhance cybersecurity.
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To keep up with increased demand from both staff and students for personalised services and interactions, higher education institutions must begin to make more effective use of their data.
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In the build up to the 2021/22 academic year, InterSystems surveyed IT decision makers from 150 higher institutions across the UK and Ireland to understand the biggest challenges they faced over the course of the pandemic, their expectations for the coming year, and their technology infrastructure.