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HEAD OF THE DIGITAL CLASSUniversity of New England’s latest technological innovations usher the university into a new era Written by: Eric Harding | Produced by: Vince Kielty

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HEAD OF THE DIGITAL CLASSUniversity of New England’s latest technological innovations usher the university into a new era Written by: Eric Harding | Produced by: Vince Kielty

A university filled with the rich traditions of the small agricultural city of Armidale,

NSW, the University of New England (UNE) strives to deliver the best in both physical infrastructure and online education.

UNE has led the sector’s transition to online digital learning. As a university of about 22,000

students, approximately 18,000 take online courses from various parts of Australia and internationally.

“We actually have more online students in Western Sydney than we have on campus,” said UNE Director of IT, Robert Irving. “There’s a massive dependency on our technology for being able to educate and provide quality

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services to them.”

THE BEG INN ING OF B IG CHANGESWhen Irving came to UNE as the director of the IT department in 2011, the quality of services needed an overhaul.

Since then UNE has implemented a program of updates to all aspect

of IT delivery in order to stay competitive with the world of online education .

“Completing that work has formed a large part of our mission for the past five years,” said Irving. “We have modernised everything from the fibre in the ground to the development of cutting-edge teaching and learning applications.

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UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND

UNE installed a new fibre-optic cable from Armidale to Narrabri over 300 kilometres to replace the one internet connection between its main campus and Australia’s academic research network.

“We’ve gone from being on a one gigabit piece of string to having very scalable, diverse network links,” said Irving. “That was the kind of core capability we needed to create. Until we had that in place, our other services couldn’t take advantage of that capacity and cloud services weren’t an option.”

In addition to installing such a robust connection, UNE chose

Extreme Networks for the network core and Palo Alto Networks as its main vendor for network security.

“We have protected our networks with the next generation of security, as well as a core network that had the throughput for the amount of traffic we were anticipating,” said Irving.

KICK ING OFF A NEW ER A OF TOOLSUNE implemented several key tools to streamline processes for both students and staff. A crucial component in this set is a new online application system run

UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND

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oracle.com/goto/universitiesor call 1300 366 386

20 of the 20 Top UniversitiesGet Better Results

Top 10 Priorities For Customer-Obsessed Companies In 2016 Reggie Bradford, Senior Vice President, Product Development, Oracle Companies that succeed in our customer-oriented economy will be those that are obsessed with engaging their constituencies personally, creatively, and interactively. Fortunately, the technology triumvirate that helped usher in the customer economy—mobile, social, and cloud—is also fundamental to creating such a customer-obsessed corporate culture.

Several of these recommendations aren’t siloed in sales or marketing but apply to overall business strategy. Company size doesn’t matter, but geography does: All business strategy should be oriented to the global digital community. And two major issues dogging digital business—privacy and security—will be considered more carefully.

1. Think: Mobility first! A quick statistic: Almost half of Americans who own a smartphone say they couldn’t live without it, according to Pew Research. People live their lives on mobile devices. Companies need to place mobility at the forefront of their strategic thinking and business development, particularly when it comes to interacting with customers.

2. Make personalization as personal as possible. Personalization means delivering a unique, informed, productive, one-to-one experience to each of your customers. It requires sophisticated real-time data collection, integration, and delivery capabilities. I use Google Waze, a mobile traffic app. Waze collects logistics data from its millions of subscribers. It tracks your route and can tell you, in real time, the fastest, least-congested way to reach your destination based on traffic patterns and problems reported by subscribers, such as accidents and police activity. It’s a personalization feedback loop, whereby information that you provide contributes to the overall intelligence of the service, which at the same time delivers meaningful data back to you.

With Waze, I give up a certain amount of my privacy, but I gain 20 minutes in my travel. It’s a trade-off more and more consumers are likely to make.

3. Serve customers better via the cloud. Cloud computing addresses the demands of modern digital business: agility, flexibility, and scalability. By using cloud services, companies can be more competitive, innovate faster, and bring customer-oriented products and services to market quicker than they would otherwise. And when the needs or interests of their customers change—and they will—the cloud enables companies to pivot sharply to address those shifts.

Conventional wisdom questioning the cloud’s security is eroding. Companies are starting to realize that cloud providers can put in place more comprehensive security measures than they themselves can manage or afford.

4. Integrate social media throughout the organization. What used to be thought of as two separate business areas, and two sharply defined marketing strategies—B2B (business to business) and B2C (business to consumer)—is blending into one marketing thrust: B2P (business to people).

That’s because the technologies that we use in our personal lives—Facebook, messaging, document sharing—can be used to interact directly with customers, partners, and suppliers.

I submit that B2P should be an overall business strategy, with two facets. First, the components of social relationship management—listening, engagement, analytics—should be easy to use and available, so any part of the organization can tap into and manage corporate sentiment around the world. Second, the use of social media technology should be integrated into all areas of the organization, both external (sales, customer support) and internal (HR, recruiting, communication), so that social media is elemental to your business workflow and how you connect with customers.

5. Exploit market influencers and user-generated content. It’s always been the case that certain people drive markets. Put another way: Not all Twitter users are created equal. It’s also true that 90% of customers say that their buying decisions are influenced by online reviews.

That’s why market “influencers” are an effective way to communicate with customers. Such influencers can aid customers in their decision-making, but also help ameliorate problems. A related strategy has to do with user-generated content (UGC). Unprofessional content is a staple of the internet (cat videos, anyone?), and such home-spun appeal attached to your brand is a potential viral blessing from heaven. Just make sure respect for privacy is part of the bargain.

6. Track the tsunami of images washing over social media. Tapping the torrent of images posted to Snapchat, Pinterest, Facebook, and other social media sites for indicators of brand sentiment is as important as “listening” to social media conversations, likely more so. Brand associations in images provide important real-world feedback, and found images can be valuable sources of UGC (see #5). Riding the global wave, more and more companies make images essential components of their marketing campaigns.

7. Take video seriously as a messaging strategy. Video views on Facebook are up—way up, according to Mark Zuckerberg. That’s of a piece with the overall increase in viewing video on digital devices, and supports Cisco’s prediction that by 2019 80% of consumer internet traffic will be video.

That trend, including the popularity of so-called short-form videos, especially on mobile devices, is a call to arms for marketers. Most organizations have a YouTube channel (you have one, right?), but is it being used for anything more creative than how-to videos?

8. Look for ways to tap the expanding Internet of Things. The IoT is real. Currently, more than 5 million “connected” devices represent the IoT, expanding to more than 20 billion devices by 2020, Gartner predicts. Such connected devices are being implanted literally where your customers live: home, car, farm, field, coffee shop, shopping mall, and so on. A company called Proteus is developing a “smart pill” that incorporates an ingestible sensor that records when medication is taken. The IoT represents a huge opportunity for companies to interact with customers in new, more direct, more affecting ways. It also represents a sizable data management and integration challenge—a recurring theme for customer-obsessed companies.

9. Create unified customer data profiles. Customer-obsessed companies must accumulate not only as much data about their customers as possible, but also organize and manage that data in discrete, accessible profiles.

One area to explore is an emerging cloud category known as data as a service (DaaS). Oracle Data Cloud, for instance, incorporates something like a billion consumer records from myriad data sources, including Acxiom, Dun & Bradstreet, and TransUnion. Oracle DaaS lets companies integrate their existing customer information, such as call center records and CRM data, with those external data sources, and provides access to that consolidated data source across all lines of business.

10. Empower your digital workforce. In this era of cell phones, laptops, and tablets, aren’t all companies digital? Ha! Sticking a toe in the water isn’t the same as diving into the deep end.

It’s only through the widespread and deeply entrenched use of today’s digital tools—mobile, social, and cloud—that companies will break down corporate silos, enable effective collaboration, and tap collective insights.

In terms of customer obsession, pick your metaphor: practice what you preach, eat your own dog food…. If the target market is digital customers (and it is), then only the organizations with a digital-first mentality and an empowered digital workforce will interact most effectively with that constituency.

– First appeared on Forbes Oracle Voice - http://www.forbes.com/sites/oracle.

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through Oracle’s Service Cloud. “We were having a lot of students

that started the application process, but wouldn’t finish it. We wanted to make sure we made that an easy process for them.

“We identified the issues that take far too long to process applications, and addressed that with Oracle’s policy automation tools.” Irving said.

Utilising Oracle’s services, UNE has built a new application system that provides a very smooth entry

process into the university. “Since the new application system

has gone live, UNE has seen the number of completed applications increase by 5.8 percent, and the number of students seeking assistance drop by over half,” Irving explained.

“We have also provisioned Skype for Business for all of our staff and students.

“It’s an amazing platform that facilitates easy communication,

IT building

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allows students to speak with staff members and collaborate on projects with other students, all without incurring telecommunication costs.”

According to the IT director, the idea of separate platforms for different modes of communications does not meet the client’s needs.

“You don’t want to think about how to connect with people, whether by message or voice or video call,” Irving said. “You want one platform that does it all, that lets you turn on extra capabilities as you need them right there while you’re

“SINCE THE NEW APPLICATION SYSTEM HAS GONE LIVE, UNE HAS SEEN THE NUMBER OF COMPLETED APPLICATIONS INCREASE BY 5.8 PERCENT, AND THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS SEEKING ASSISTANCE DROP BY OVER HALF.”– UNE Director of IT, Robert Irving

connected. You can go from an IM session with one colleague to a full video conference with hundreds of people in one click.”

“Microsoft is creating some amazing new functionality; we are particularly excited about the real time translation services coming online from Microsoft this year,” said Irving. “This will be fantastic in assisting our international students in a variety of ways. You’re not going to see these types of capabilities in your Cisco VoIP system any time soon.”

E D U C AT I O N

CSA and University of New England have started creating the future of distance education utilising the power of Microsoft’s Skype for Business collaboration technology. Already students can use Xbox consoles, or other preferred devices, to ‘attend’ lectures

remotely rather than being physically present in the classroom. 

22,000 students, 10 locations, 1 network. It just works.

Transforming IT to Transform Education

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E D U C AT I O N

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CLEAR ING THE OBSTACLESAmong the biggest obstacle in revamping its IT department was the large amount of work UNE had to do all at once. While the University’s aims for digital dominance would have been far-fetched five years ago, UNE is now in a good position to reach that goal according to Irving. To achieve upgrades on a relatively short timeline, UNE determined the ideal technical delivery order, starting with core network installation, laying fibre-optic cable, and establishing a

CSA and University of New England have started creating the future of distance education utilising the power of Microsoft’s Skype for Business collaboration technology. Already students can use Xbox consoles, or other preferred devices, to ‘attend’ lectures

remotely rather than being physically present in the classroom. 

22,000 students, 10 locations, 1 network. It just works.

Transforming IT to Transform Education

1300 306 071 csa.com.au

Like many businesses, Universities, schools TAFE’s are challenged by funding pressures, compliance and increased competition. This, coupled with the need to provide a diverse range of services to many users in an always connected environment has senior IT management seeking trusted guidance. Since 1986 CSA has grown to become Australia’s leading integrator of risk-tolerant IT solutions. CSA’s unique approach can provide CIO’s certainty by delivering a holistic strategy, aligned with your institution’s objectives. This strategy can be taken from concept to completion through the execution of prioritised programs of work. CSA can provide strategic advice, practical assistance and tools to help you achieve your vision. Whether Cloud Computing, Mobility, Network Security, Software or other IT needs, CSA is a trusted provider in Education. Our reputation is built upon the strength of our experience, specialist knowledge and continuous learning. Our passion is to see you enable change and fulfil your potential.

Website: www.csa.com.au

SUPPLIER PROFILE

state-of-the-art wireless network. “We are now working towards

moving from a wired to a wireless network for all of our computing devices, with some great savings to be achieved in the edge network and reducing complexity in the overall networking environment,” he said.

With 170 buildings on campus, UNE now has a core network with capacity reaching far beyond current needs.

“Our network capacity won’t be an issue for this university for decades,” said Irving.

platforms and applications.”

SUPPORTING THE STAFFUNE was voted as providing the best IT service for students four out

“I think that’s what separates us. It’s been a real challenge to do it all in such a short timeframe, and at the same time, we’ve now built this really fantastic infrastructure that integrates smartly with the

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Dixson library

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of the past five years in Australia and New Zealand. As a leading online education provider, providing the best support is critical to student success, this is something UNE is very good at. With a mature service desk team comprised of members with 5-10 years experience, the staff knows UNE’s IT services inside and out.

UNE brought in an IT trainer to help with the adoption of all new technologies, and is now working on a specialised training program for

Skype for Business and OneNote. In addition, UNE is taking training for Microsoft to the next level. With the help of Microsoft’s academic trainers, UNE will implement high-intensity training in an increased effort to heighten their technology capability.

“We’ve got people using the platforms and they’re doing all right with it, but we think we can achieve a lot more,” said Irving. “Our goal is to achieve digital leadership through our staff and students, and

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the technology enables them to do this.”

UNE is in the process of replacing its home-built identity management system with Microsoft ForeFront Identity Manager, which is a strategic move as the university continues to adopt more and more Microsoft technology.

“We see that being very significant in how we affect a lot of our business processes,” said Irving. “We know it will translate into better digital services for our students and our staff.”

Irving said it is a project that began at the beginning of 2016, and will run for the next 24 months.

“The technology part of this IAM project could be achieved far more quickly but we want to

ensure the improvements are achieved and cemented within our business processes. These are rare opportunities to make business changes, and we have to make them count,” said Irving.

AT THE FORE OF INNOVATION While UNE’s online application system by Oracle went live in March 2015, the institution is looking to find ways to bring its enrollment system to mobile devices to make the application experience more seamless.

UNE will shift its infrastructure to Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). Currently with two data centres in Armidale and one in Sydney, UNE will soon have no need to manage

“OUR GOAL IS TO ACHIEVE DIGITAL LEADERSHIP THROUGH OUR STAFF AND STUDENTS, AND THE TECHNOLOGY ENABLES THEM TO DO THIS.”– UNE Director of IT, Robert Irving

E D U C AT I O N

hardware comes to end-of-life, it will move out to IaaS,” said Irving.

“We have a strategic plan to achieve digital dominance by 2020. That will mean taking a very different view of what a traditional IT department does in a university, transforming it to a market leader

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its own infrastructure. Instead, the university will move to IaaS and Platform as a Service (PaaS) so UNE can focus on its application layers, which are its key areas for differentiation.

“In our mind, that’s probably more of a two to three year project, so as

UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND

Smart Farm new building

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based on innovations.“This certainly isn’t a paint-by-numbers

strategy, it will be a quest where innovation and change happens,” he said.

“We’re in an exciting place in terms of what we can do in the future. We really do have the platform to build off, which will take us a long way into the future.”

Company Information

N A M E

University of New England

I N D U S T RY

Education

E S TA B L I S H E D

1938

C A M P U S

Armidale, NSW

Australia

E M P L O Y E E S

1,400

S T U D E N T S

22,000

E D U C AT I O NUNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND

University of New England

Armidale NSW 2351, Australia Victoria, Australia - 3101

Tel.: +61 2 6773 3333Email: media@une.edu.au

www.une.edu.au