Stuart Hildyard, Executive Director of the University’s Transformation Project Office, said the change to one single student management system had been transformative in supporting and integrating the requirements of the institution for both vocational and higher education.

Victoria University has several campuses, one in Melbourne CBD, five in the city’s western suburbs, as well as one in Sydney and Brisbane. It was an early leader in the use of SMS on Software as a Service (SaaS) platform, adopting TechnologyOne’s solution for its VET students in 2017. It has been a long-term Financials customer often partnering for early advantage and moving to SaaS platform for both solutions just made sense.

“The good thing about TechnologyOne is that they are Australia-based. Often when it comes to successful technology implementation, it depends on the local relationship. They understand the Australian sector really well,” Mr Hildyard said.

“If I do have a problem, I can pick up the phone and ring them or fly up to Brisbane to see them. I think the relationship aspect is really important and aligns to our ‘partnering with principle’ strategic driver.

One of our core principals is an unrelenting focus on the student experience for our transformation program.”

TechnologyOne’s OneEducation solution has benefitted the university in a number of ways, but most notably in freeing up staff. They now spend less time doing what Mr Hildyard calls “transactional activities”.

“The student and staff experience has been improved because the staff can automate more of their work. If staff are spending less time doing transactional things, it frees them up to service the students,”
he said.

The university’s timetabling and scheduling will also be moved to TechnologyOne’s Software-as-a- Service (SaaS) platform in 2023, which will help it optimise and enhance its campus operations.

“We can efficiently use our space, so students can have better clustering for classes to enhance their experience across our multiple campuses going forward,” he said.

For enrolments, the system has made more information available online at the front end, so students are now better informed when they begin various processes, a difference experience from the past.

The platform is also available on mobile devices, as well as desktop.

“One thing we are working on is the ability to automate offers and acceptances, so a student can accept an offer and automatically be enrolled. The plan is they would then be able to access their timetable straight away in the future,” Mr Hildyard said.

While there has historically been a large drop off in student engagement with the university during the online enrolment process, the website is also seeing changes to improve click-through access to apply.

“We are now looking at all the steps where we can initiate changes through the platform before the end of the year to improve our admission to enrolment conversion,” Mr Hildyard said.

Another change that will be live in the coming months at Victoria University will be the ability for staff to engage online directly with students during the offer and acceptance process.

“Previously a student applied for a place and when they received a rejection, that was it. Now we have the ability to create alternate offers so our staff can tell them ‘You may not be eligible for this higher education place but have you thought about this TAFE course’ and vice versa,” Mr Hildyard said.

TechnologyOne is currently working with a group of early adopters, including Victoria University, to
design DXP Student.

This new digital experience platform will provide an individualised experience for students, simplifying and automating administration with a clean interface that brings together data from disparate systems.

It will also support students by using data analytics to identify when they may be struggling, including directing them to the right support services.

“DXP Student has a really nice user experience for the student where it will make it even simpler to do various aspects of their enrolments, admissions and timetabling,” Mr Hildyard said.

“We are talking to TechnologyOne about how we get involved as early adopters so we can take
advantage of helping them best shape the product through a student lens.”

Utilising Artificial Intelligence will also be another benefit of DXP Student.

“One of the longer-term advantages for the University of having Timetabling & Scheduling, Financials and our Student Management System on TechnologyOne’s SaaS platform is that we can leverage that to get good data information and data sets which feeds into AI use,” Mr Hildyard said.

“We have started strategic discussions to see if we could look at using data to better manage building assets and utilisation. For example, through TechnologyOne’s timetabling system, can we remotely turn on the lights when the space is being used and vice versa to improve environmental efficiency?”

TechnologyOne offers Victoria University students scholarships each year for students to do a placement in its Brisbane office.

“That is part of the whole strength of our partnership and how we strategically look to go forward with TechnologyOne,” Mr Hildyard said.

TechnologyOne (ASX: TNE) is Australia's largest enterprise Software as a Service (SaaS) company and one of Australia's top 100 ASX-listed companies, with offices across six countries. Our enterprise SaaS solution transforms business and makes life simple for our communities by providing powerful, deeply integrated enterprise software that is incredibly easy to use. Over 1,200 leading corporations, government departments and statutory authorities are powered by our software.  

Our global SaaS solution provides deep functionality for the higher education sector, and we invest significant funds each year in R&D. We also take complete responsibility to market, sell, implement, support and run our solutions for our customers, which reduce time, cost and risk.

Despite the increase in enrolments during the pandemic, the decline in commencing domestic undergraduate students is reflective of the increasing cost of living pressures. The most recent ABS data shows that the number of commencing domestic undergraduate students, the main feeder group to higher education, decreased by 8.2 per cent. This is the lowest number of potential undergraduate students since 2013.

With Australia ranking at number 11 out of 69 of the most expensive places to live and the inflation rate reaching 5.1 per cent at the end of October 2023, students are often faced with having to prioritise other costs over food and, even, medication. This can lead to student attrition – a wasted opportunity for the individual who loses the chance to pursue their interests and goals. For the institution, the problem is compounded by losses of pre-committed revenue. And for the university’s reputation too. For these reasons and more, it is crucial for universities to have mechanisms in place to identify at-risk students.

Modernising the way universities communicate and interact with their students is key to being able to offer strong support and spot early warning signals before struggling students risk walking away from their academic studies.

Universities Australia’s Student Experience Survey found that 19 per cent of undergraduate students indicated that they had considered early departure in 2020, with 50 per cent citing health or stress and 23 per cent citing financial difficulties as their reason.

This is worrying, to say the least; so how can higher educators go about fixing this – particularly when they are under inflationary and staffing pressure themselves?

To ensure they deliver the best possible student experience and the lowest possible attrition rate across all courses, universities invest in a range of platforms that promise to gather data and insights. There are a few issues with this. Namely, wellbeing is complex and must be measured on multiple levels – including the emotional, physical, social, intellectual, and financial dimensions.

We also know that predicting student attrition requires making sense of multiple data sources – how many terms is the student enrolled for, have they transferred to another program, have they been given an academic warning for failing grades, have they sought support services, are they enrolled to online courses?

But in most cases, that data isn’t connected across student-related information systems. Those gaps can limit a university’s ability to spot patterns or at-risk behaviors that, if caught early, could change the trajectory for that student, almost always in a mutually beneficial way.

Progressive organisations recognise that digital transformation is the key to solving these challenges. Smart solutions better support the administrative and pastoral needs of universities and their students. TechnologyOne’s Software-as-Service solution for example provides higher education leaders with real-time, holistic data-driven insights.

We know that investing in smart technology and timely analysis of the right data can be transformative in helping universities identify and intervene when students are struggling – financially and emotionally – and ultimately helping them stay the course.

In the age of Big Data, collecting it is meaningless if you can’t turn it into an actionable insight to better a student’s experience, and potentially turn them into repeat customers when they choose to further their studies.

As we move forward, the challenge for universities will be finding the balance between accepting their role as custodians for student wellbeing, while not becoming digitally intrusive in the process.

There are many pressures on university finances at the moment that institutions are finding hard to control. Attracting students and keeping them engaged should not be one of them.

TechnologyOne (ASX: TNE) is Australia's largest enterprise Software as a Service (SaaS) company and one of Australia's top 100 ASX-listed companies, with offices across six countries. Our enterprise SaaS solution transforms business and makes life simple for our communities by providing powerful, deeply integrated enterprise software that is incredibly easy to use. Over 1,200 leading corporations, government departments and statutory authorities are powered by our software.

Our global SaaS solution provides deep functionality for the higher education sector, and we invest significant funds each year in R&D. We also take complete responsibility to market, sell, implement, support and run our solutions for our customers, which reduce time, cost and risk.

Up to two-thirds of workers in Australia’s tertiary education sector are employed as casuals or on fixed contracts.[1] For casuals, that means your income can rise and fall like a disoriented butterfly depending on whether university or college is in session or not. Even if you’re on a fixed contract, there can be a lingering uncertainty about what to do when your contract ends.

To feel more in control of your fluttering finances, making a budget is a valuable first step. These easy tips might just start smoothing out your financial ups and downs.

1. Start saving to spread the load

Set up a savings account – your ‘buffer’ fund – to help navigate those lean periods. Determine the amount you should save each pay during your flush months, and schedule a transfer so it goes in as soon as your salary hits your bank account. And be tough with yourself. Don’t use those funds until you really need them.

If you earn extra money from a side hustle put that into your buffer, too, until you have enough to carry you through the break.

Try to get as high an interest rate as you can to grow the balance faster. Teachers Mutual Bank’s Target Saver account returns up to 5.50%p.a. variable interest (if savings conditions are met)², and there are other savings accounts with $0 account-keeping fees³.

2. What are your essential expenses?

Look at your bank and credit card statements and work out the baseline of your ‘must-pay’ expenses each month. You can use Teachers Mutual Bank’s budget planner. Include things like:

• rent/mortgage
• groceries
• utility bills
• car costs and travel
• minimum debt repayments, including credit cards.
• Divide annual bills, like your car registration, and any quarterly bills into a monthly amount.
• When you’re done, you’ll know the minimum amount you need to cover essential costs each month.

3. What else are you spending?

Next, add up how much you’re spending on other things such as going out, takeaways, haircuts, gym membership, etc. You can work this out from bank statements, or use an expense tracker app for a month to get a precise picture of what you’re spending money on.

Teachers Mutual Bank has a mobile app^* that lets you track your spending across categories. The 50:30:20 budgeting rule suggests you allocate:

• half your take-home income for essential expenses
• 30 per cent on discretionary spending
• 20 per cent towards savings or paying off debt.

But if your income goes up and down a lot, you’ll want to boost the savings ratio and cut down on discretionary spending – just for that peace of mind.

4. Plot your income

Look at your bank statements to map your income for the past year. This will give you an insight into how much you earn and when. Jot down the good months and the bad.

Next, forecast your income for the coming months. Highlight those months when you’re likely to earn less than you need to cover essential expenses. How much will you fall short? That’s what you’ll have to keep in reserve from your better paid months, or earn extra from other work.

5. Separate your money

Now that you know how much you need for essentials, and how much you should put into your buffer, you can consider other financial goals. You may want to pay off a loan sooner, save for a stint overseas, a car upgrade or another exciting goal.

Having separate accounts makes it much easier. You can set up one account to cover regular bills and expenses, have another everyday account with a debit card for your weekly spending money, and a savings account to start building towards a longer-term goal. That’s easy to do at Teachers Mutual Bank, as there are $0 monthly account fee on everyday banking and savings accounts³.

Living off an uneven income isn’t always easy, but having a buffer account and a regular savings routine can do a lot to help you avoid financial stress.

Teachers Mutual Bank | Bank differently

Find out more about how you can boost your financial wellbeing today.

Important Information

All interest rates quoted are subject to change

This information is general in nature and does not take your personal objectives, financial circumstances or needs into account. Consider its appropriateness to these factors before acting on it.

Membership eligibility applies to join the Bank. Membership is open to citizens or permanent residents of Australia who are current or retired employees in the Australian education sector or are family members of members (i.e. shareholders) of the Bank. Teachers Mutual Bank is a division of Teachers Mutual Bank Limited ABN 30 087 650 459 AFSL/Australian Credit Licence 238981.

^[1] National Tertiary Education Union, NTEU Submission to the Attorney-General into the Statutory Review of Casual Employment Legislation, August 2022, D22 1652557 NTEU Submission.PDF (dewr.gov.au)

²Target Saver rate incudes 5.49%p.a. variable bonus rate and 0.01% variable base rate. Bonus rate is available if savings conditions are met.

³Before you decide on any of our products or services and for full terms and conditions of Target Saver (including all bonus interest criteria), please read both the Conditions of Use Accounts and Access, and Fees and Charges documents. You can find these online at our website or ask at any of our offices.

^* The Mobile App is free to download, however your mobile network provider may charge you for accessing data on your phone. We recommend that you read the App Terms of Use and consider if this service is appropriate to you prior to making a decision to use the Mobile App. We test the Mobile App to ensure compatibility with the majority of popular devices, but cannot guarantee that it will be compatible with all devices and operating systems. Learn more about Mobile App Terms of Use.

If you want to feel more in control of your fluttering finances, making a budget is a valuable first step.

And he wasn’t the only person who said this. Facility maintenance and concern over assets and the ability to forecast funding was a hot topic.

In essence, effective asset management is crucial for higher education institutions to optimise the use of resources, meet their legislative and regulatory compliance, support planning and budgeting, manage risks, and promote sustainability.

Naturally, student retention, wellbeing, and international rankings were also mentioned, but - after periods of empty classrooms and underutilised student accommodation there was serious uncertainty for that VC over whether the pipes (and sewerage!) would be able to continue to manage the onslaught of students returning to campus. 

The ticking time bomb of how long they would last before needing a financial injection (and where this would come from) was real. 

In a data driven world, and a time when every single dollar is needed, an asset management solution that connects and talks to the rest of the organisation is vital. 

So here are my five tips for organisations looking to improve their asset management with technology: 

1. Asset management solutions that plug in to the rest of your systems (including finance, HR and student management) is a no-brainer. Integrated solutions – such as those available to universities running on ERP software, provides accurate, consolidated data from across the organisation. Data from a single point of truth allows universities to reduce operational costs, make a strong case for new capital investment, and manage facilities in ways that maximises return on investment - not to mention keep students and staff safe and happy. 

2. Plans based on great data ensure facilities can be funded and actually support the services you want to provide. How will your facilities keep pace with rapid changes in the programs and technologies shaping student demand and growth in research fields? Your solution should help you to make informed investment decisions. That means being able to predict long-term asset costs, prioritise building projects, and use best practice modelling to plan capital works based on different financial scenarios.

3. If you don’t have an integrated asset register – get one. An integrated asset register allows universities to classify and accurately monitor all types of buildings, equipment, utilities, and green spaces. High-level visibility should combine with sophisticated management and cost analysis tools. That way, you can optimise availability, reduce wear and tear, and more easily determine how assets can be used to solve new problems or support new revenue streams in the future.

4. Offer self-service so students and staff can flag facilities management issues and get feedback. An ideal solution also enhances communication with workers. For instance, an asset register that harnesses spatial information so you can manage assets visually, which helps field staff and contractors quickly find the location of problems and get to work. Plus integrated apps to record work completed on-the-go.

5. Smart tools that do the hard work exist – use them. Choose software that gives you a clear picture of costs about developing capital projects; the maintenance, renewal and operation of assets over their entire lifecycle; and how well spaces are being utilised. For accurate insights, facilities management costs must dovetail with supply chain management transactions—like inventory, purchasing and contractors—and also feed into overarching financial planning tools.

If there is anyone else out there losing sleep over sewerage, pipes, or the ability to maintain their assets on campus, please don’t. 

TechnologyOne has a market leading Enterprise Asset Management solution which is fit for purpose for higher education and is integrated.

Because it’s delivered via Software as a Service (SaaS) it also reduces internal IT costs and the burden of managing your infrastructure. 

TechnologyOne’s Enterprise Asset Management allows you to make informed, evidence-based asset investment decisions with rich, comprehensive data insights to guide you.

Using spreadsheets for portfolio, program and project management is like a puzzle, a piece goes missing and you don’t get the full picture.

To make sure you can see the full picture of your assets, visit here for more information.  

Peter Nikoletatos, Adjunct Professor and Industry General Manager for Education at TechnologyOne

Throughout history, pandemics have forced humans to imagine their world differently. For the higher education sector, COVID-19 meant there was a global shift in how staff taught and how students learned. 

Shift to online learning accelerated by the pandemic

Prior to 2020 to meet the needs of growing student populations and campuses, higher education institutions concentrated heavily on creating spatial experiences to enhance learning environments for students and teachers. These educational spaces and surroundings brought students, teachers and academics together in the interest of knowledge and helped them to feel inspired, comfortable and safe, focusing on their wellbeing, engagement and performance. 

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the shift to online learning, launching live streaming of lectures and online class tutorials. The shift to largely online learning had a massive impact on budgets, where once prized and sought-after assets like classrooms, lecture theatres and research labs sat largely unused but still cost providers money in maintenance and upkeep until the time when students would eventually return.

It’s time to redefine, repurpose, and redesign university spaces 

Now that time has come but the pandemic’s effects still linger. Today, having a balanced, blended learning arrangement is expected of education institutions. This new normal involves learning beyond the confines of traditional teaching spaces, structures and material resources, pushing providers to re-evaluate how to shape the use of existing physical spaces and assets. Existing areas in universities need to be repurposed and new buildings will need a different approach to design and purpose, providing spaces that prioritise community, cost-efficiency and sustainability. 

A considerable amount of capital funds is spent to create and update various university assets to deliver ergonomic and state-of-the-art learning environments to students, and superior teaching, training and administrative facilities to staff. Projects include upgrading or creating common learning facilities, creating and upgrading campus buildings, and most importantly in today’s post-COVID environment, investing in digital infrastructure to support the rising demand for blended learning and even virtual support services. 

Portfolio, program, and project management made easy with asset management software

In order to know how to best utilise assets and direct budgets, universities need to be able to effectively prioritise and optimise their strategic approach by engaging in effective portfolio, program, and project management.

In many higher education institutions portfolio, program, and project management is a standalone process, usually utilising third-party solutions or Excel spreadsheets. This can result in siloed, disparate, and isolated systems and processes that lead to data duplication across multiple systems, manual processes, poor visibility, and clarity of asset performance, risk, timelines, and issues. It can also lead to delayed or lack of integration with project financial activity, which can result in poor budgeting, estimation, forecasting, and actual cost tracking.  

Using software like TechnologyOne’s Project Lifecycle Management, embedded and integrated with other business processes such as Financials, Contracts, Human Resources & Payroll, and more, can help campus asset managers, project management officers, financials officers and contract managers to manage portfolios, programs and projects more effectively by creating a single source of truth for all related information. It makes managing assets simple with streamlined processes and the ability to operate more efficiently through end-to-end management of university operations.

Portfolio, program, and project management software can help identify capital initiatives and prioritise their delivery aligned with organisational objectives and strategies optimised against available funding. Project costs, risks and timelines are also able to be managed and controlled thanks to a unified view of all portfolio, program, and project information.

“Higher education institutions want their students and staff to have a great experience and learn the things they need to learn without having to worry about back-end technology. The accelerated evolution to hybrid learning in higher education required a shift in budget allocation to transform already existing spaces and build new ones to allow for collaborative and secure environments, and smart, flexible spaces that can be adapted to suit different needs and tasks. All the while ensuring students and staff could continue their lessons as usual,” said Peter Nikoletatos, Industry General Manager for Education at TechnologyOne.

Overall, effective asset management is crucial for higher education institutions to optimise the use of resources, ensure compliance, support planning and budgeting, manage risks, and promote sustainability.

TechnologyOne’s Enterprise Asset Management allows you to make informed, evidence-based asset investment decisions with rich, comprehensive data insights to guide you. Using spreadsheets for portfolio, program and project management is like a puzzle, a piece goes missing and you don’t get the full picture. To make sure you can see the full picture of your assets, visit here for more information. 

Founded in 1887, RMIT is a multi-sector university of technology, design and enterprise, with more than 96,000 students and close to 10,000 staff globally across campuses and sites in Australia, Vietnam and Barcelona.

Modernisation of Core System Information Systems in the higher education industry has traditionally been fraught with risks.

RMIT had been running the PeopleSoft Solution, SAMS, since 1999. SAMS holds the administration records for RMIT’s approximately 96,000 students.

In April 2022 the SAMS on-premise system was upgraded and migrated to AWS Public cloud, delivering the University better system performance with simplified support.

The upgrade has also enabled enhanced security protection and cyber resilience for people, data, and operations with a new single sign-on and API authentication.

The upgraded Campus solution offers new technology that enables access to future features, improving the overall user experience. The more responsive navigation and faster page load times improve user experience and productivity.

Following the successful system go-live on 22 April 2022, RMIT’s Academic Registrar, Connie Merlino said, “Ensuring our students have a great experience is our number one priority so I’m delighted there was no disruption whatsoever to our systems during the SAMS migration to AWS Cloud.”

RMIT’s Chief Information Officer Sinan Erbay said, “It was a very smooth transition indeed, I’m very proud of what the combined RMIT and HCLTech teams have achieved. The project is an example of best practice effective cross-collaboration between a wide range of different stakeholders across the University.”

Shalabh Narain, Vice President at HCLTech and Client Partner for RMIT agreed.

“The SAMS system migration was like working on a car when the engine’s still running, a feat which really couldn’t have been achieved without a ‘One team’ mindset”, Narain said.

“I’m really pleased about how collaboratively the HCLTech and RMIT teams came together with a very simple goal in mind going live seamlessly.”

Going forward HCLTech will provide ongoing managed services for RMIT’s Peoplesoft application using their MASCoT (Managed Services with Continuous Improvement to Transformation) framework.

This cloud migration and application modernisation project will help accelerate RMIT’s digital transformation journey. The ultimate goal is an integrated, output-based and future-proofed global IT operating model that drives innovation and IT excellence by improving agility, efficiency and scalability. This technology uplift will enable users an improved experience and access to new futures.

About HCLTech

HCLTech is a global technology company, home to 219,000+ people across 54 countries, delivering industry-leading capabilities centered around digital, engineering and cloud, powered by a broad portfolio of technology services and products.

We work with clients across all major verticals, providing industry solutions for Financial Services, Manufacturing, Life Sciences and Healthcare, Technology and Services, Telecom and Media, Retail and CPG, and Public Services.

Consolidated revenues as of 12 months ending September 2022 totaled $12.1 billion. To learn how we can supercharge progress for you, visit hcltech.com.

Peter Nikoletatos Industry Director – Education, TechnologyOne and Adjunct Professor provides us with insight into the findings.

The recently released Digital Transformation Index Report for Tertiary Education 2022 – an initiative from TechnologyOne – surveyed senior executives and management within the tertiary education sector across Australia and New Zealand during August 2022. The results showed a rise in awareness around the benefits of digital transformation in SaaS, with 80% of respondents placing digital transformation as a high priority, and 83% having either implemented, or in the planning stages, of implementing their digital vision. 

Given the level of disruption experienced by this sector in recent years (approximately 20,000 employees stepped down), institutions understand the urgency to reinvent themselves in progressive ways and retire ageing legacy systems that are a hindrance to growth. Built-for-purpose, secure and reliable digital transformation – extending from backend processes right through to front end engagement – is now emerging as the most powerful way to attract both staff and students in a competitive tertiary education landscape.

While the value of digital transformation cannot be disputed, it is hard, and this is reflected in these latest results., Over half of the respondents (53%) are struggling with resourcing to achieve their transformation ambitions, with under half (41%) having the budget to support them. This suggests a catch-22 situation where digital transformation is needed to increase enrolments and staff retention, but the strain on budgets means institutions are reticent to make the initial outlay that could bolster them financially in the long-run. 

For those institutions still labouring over the next step in transforming digitally, an understanding of the benefits of digital could be the sticking point. Almost half (47%) indicate that the impact of digital change is not fully understood by their staff, and 63.5% say their executive team is not actively engaged in pursuing and leading transformation. 

Conservatism caused by the events of recent years could be informing these statistics. Given proper transformation requires a whole-of-organisation approach, these results indicate that the sector could benefit from educating itself further about digital transformation and different ways to realise it. That way, a transformation strategy with all stakeholders engaged and onboard can be successfully implemented. 

Staff and student experience – a big motivator for transformation 

It's exciting to note that tertiary educators are keen to up their game on staff and student experience, recognising that digital transformation is the most effective means to achieve their desired outcomes. 81% of respondents identify the improvement of student experience as a high priority and 76% cite increased productivity of employees as either high or a medium priority for advancing to digital. 

Engagement through digital transformation equates to the strategic, operational, and educational requirements of any given institution being fully integrated into a single platform enterprise solution or through a SaaS provider. This means making administration far easier on all levels for both internal and external stakeholders – with an intuitive user-interface that people actually enjoy interacting with. Institutions taking this digital step have a distinct competitive advantage when it comes to attracting and retaining students and staff.

For students, the introduction of mobile apps and self-service online options are key components to an enhanced experience. The findings of the survey show that 64% of respondents have either implemented, or are planning to implement, mobile apps for students. A healthier figure of 86% have either implemented, or are planning to implement, self-service online options for their students.    

Best-in-class institutions offer a working example 

Even those institutions at an advanced stage in their digital transformation journey understand that continual improvement is an important part of any digital strategy. Consequently, leading institutions see digital transformation as not just a project-based initiative but incorporated into the ongoing digital vision of their institution instead.

All institutions that sit within the “best-in-class" quadrant of this survey host their core systems (finance, HR, research management, student management facilities, asset management, etc.) within SaaS. They are committed to using digital transformation to improve student experience, increase enrolments and boost employee productivity. They also have an engaged executive team that is leading the transformation process.

Not surprisingly, cyber security has emerged as a key concern in the survey – 95% have ERM strategies that include cyber security controls – given the rising volume in data security breaches since the pandemic. However, a large number of institutions (71%) are opting to internally resource their cyber security, despite the best-in-class institutions recognising that it is far more resource-, security- and cost-effective to leverage cyber security expertise and scale from a specialist SaaS provider.

As the tertiary education sector emerges from a difficult period, we're seeing a decisive push for institutions to become more digitally progressive. Such a trend means we anticipate even greater digital maturity and transformation in the sector with next year's report. 

Download the full report here.

When I started at the University of Sydney, I joined a team that was struggling with incredibly complicated processes. To work through a referral from a student reporting an incident of distress, my team and I had to open no fewer than nine separate systems. And the situation was no better for the student or staff member relating the incident. To record their experience, they had to choose one of 17 configurations of the reporting form.

So one of our key priorities for the Safer Communities project has been to build a system that gives us a complete picture of a student and their needs, so we can address them in an integrated and holistic way. 

From the point of referral and throughout the entire period of care, we want to put the right information in front of the proper practitioner when they need it, so they can make healthy decisions about how to interact with and care for the student in front of them. 

Download the Simplus Australia ebook: 6 ways Australian universities are stopping student attrition.

It is critical to give students the best possible chance to complete their studies. We are building a program that enables us to intervene before students find themselves at crisis point. It will help to reduce the occurrence of serious incidents and allow us to properly support victims and survivors.

Designing a human-centred system to improve student wellbeing

We are now in the final stages of building our early intervention and student support system. We’ve reduced those nine systems to one, and cut the 17 different reporting forms back to a single common experience.

Our current focus is user testing. We want to ensure the process of reporting is human-centred and requires minimal effort. Our goal is to create a system that supports anyone who needs to report trauma. It’s vital that the process makes them feel confident that the university will act on their report. 

“The point is to get the system to act quickly with the information it has so we can focus on human interaction.” - Dr Benjamin Wilkes, University of Sydney

One of our biggest challenges is balancing the mechanical nature of a systemised recording program with the need for a straightforward experience for those communicating under difficult circumstances. 

For someone reporting an incident, we have a dynamic form linked to our CRM. This makes for a much smoother experience. Importantly, it allows them to make choices along the way about how much they want to submit at any given time. The person reporting their experience may not feel ready to disclose all the details straight away, so it’s critical that we enable choice and offer flexibility and support throughout the process. 

 A sophisticated system often presents more than one way of doing something – a challenge our staff are facing right now. So we are continuously assessing how we can use quick links and shortcuts so that staff members don't have to count the number of contacts, sessions or people involved in an incident. The point is to get the system to act quickly with the information it has so we can focus on human interaction.

Creating a responsive and supported community

Safer Communities is part of a larger program that involves getting all our wellbeing services connected in one system. It also requires promoting a wider campaign in the university community about respect and responsibility.

We can’t put all the responsibility for action on victims and survivors. We must build a community that feels confident and supported to call out unacceptable behaviour and that can actively contribute to a safer campus.

When the new external-facing reporting methods are launched, we’ll also share new materials to raise awareness. We have been consulting with colleges and residences about the most effective and appropriate way to share that information.

There are around 300 clubs and societies at the university. Student leaders had been receiving reports of assaults or other unacceptable behaviours, and were having trouble responding to the content of what was being disclosed. So we are co-designing a program with them about how to create safer environments for student events and groups, alongside a more informed and empowered reporting system. 

We believe that bystander training will also help people to understand how they can best respond if they witness threatening behaviour or an assault. 

Reducing the tolerance of unacceptable behaviour, intervening before something escalates, and showing consequences early on for inappropriate behaviour are essential parts of creating the safe community that enables students to thrive. 

Dr Benjamin Wilkes, Head – Student Wellbeing, Education, University of Sydney

Read more from Dr Benjamin Wilkes and other higher education staff in both professional and academic streams about how Australian universities can boost retention now. Download the Simplus Australia ebook: 6 ways Australian universities are stopping student attrition

Employee engagement remains an ongoing challenge for leaders around the world. 42% of HR leaders say improving employee experience is their top challenge today. And while employee engagement rates are on the rise, a global pandemic has thrown a whole new set of challenges our way when it comes to engaging our workforce.

There is a changing set of expectations from employees about how, where and when they work, with flexibility, remote work and hybrid work models becoming increasingly prevalent. In many cases, these are huge drivers for attracting and retaining the best talent, and enabling them to do their best work.

Josh Bersin calls this “The Big Reset”.

“There are hundreds of reinventions going on. Companies are dramatically changing how they hire and move people internally. They’re radically upskilling and reskilling leaders. They’re pouring money into learning and development. And they’re totally rethinking their diversity, inclusion, and citizenship programs,” Bersin says in his latest report.

Amid these changes, it’s clear that delivering an exceptional employee experience, underpinned by reliable and intuitive technology, is more important than ever. And it’s not just about employee well-being; it's about productivity as well. According to Gallup, employees in highly engaged business units realise a 17% increase in productivity, 24% less turnover, and a 41% reduction in absenteeism.

Employee engagement is an area that is on top of HR leaders’ agendas, with 48% of HR and IT Leaders planning on investing in technology to help improve the employee experience. And for many firms, making the switch to SaaS-based platforms is the ideal way to gain efficiencies while enhancing employee engagement.

4 ways effective SaaS integration influences employee engagement

As challenging as this pandemic has been, it’s presented HR leaders with a valuable opportunity to re-evaluate ways of working. Many are looking at new ways to use SaaS and cloud-based systems to redesign the employee experience.

Here are 4 key areas in which a well-designed SaaS environment can create a strong positive impact on employee engagement.

1. Supporting employee wellbeing

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a huge toll on people’s financial, physical and emotional wellbeing.

Research among 1,160 workers shows wellbeing is a key priority for workers, with 83% saying it is up to the employer to facilitate wellbeing in the workplace.

SaaS-based systems can give managers a holistic view of their team’s performance, along with historical data to benchmark it against. What’s more, the data points are live, enabling a real-time view into team resourcing, workloads and availability. With new tools and strategies to identify signs of struggle, managers can identify and step in to address any wellbeing issues before they grow into something more serious.

Broadly speaking, wellbeing is about creating conditions that inspire and enable people to invest their talent and ideas in your company’s future success. It is also about transparency that empowers managers to make objective, well-informed decisions about employee wellbeing, based on facts and data.

What makes people go above and beyond in their work? It starts with great leadership equipped with the right tools, and is influenced daily by how well you reward, recognise and develop your team members.

2. Enabling remote access to work

The modern workforce is operating in a time of uncertainty. Right now, many organisations are preparing for a return back to work or implementing hybrid working models to support a mix of in-person and remote working arrangements.

Employees need secure remote access to critical software applications and data, and they need to be able to access the systems they need, across any device, at a time that suits them. SaaS-based systems, when properly integrated with company workflows and systems, offer tremendous flexibility in how, where and when your people work, while removing bottlenecks related to syncing or manual processes.

And it’s not just employees. Modern organisations rely on a variety of freelancers, contractors, consultants and temporary workers who may work between various sites, even across various time zones. Having a system that can support this new age of remote work while providing a consistent, reliable and intuitive employee experience can make a world of difference to their productivity.

For example, choosing a modern HR solution that is built with easy-to-use collaboration and communication features will help you equip your managers with the tools they need to stay connected, wherever your team may be.

3. Providing personalised learning and development opportunities

Faced with more free time due to lockdown rules, many people have thrown themselves into learning about digital tools, professional topics, and new languages. According to data from LinkedIn Learning, users watched over 1.7 million hours of courses in April 2020, double the amount watched in March and three-times the amount watched in February.

Many organisations have noted this growing enthusiasm and are taking advantage of the increase in virtual learning technologies to reskill and up-skill their workforce.

A SaaS-based HR platform that integrates training with performance management allows you to use key data insights to align training programs with employees’ goals, giving them a personalised and engaging employee experience.

4. Giving employees the tools to make work easier

As if working from home while juggling home school responsibilities and sticky-handed toddlers weren’t hard enough, many of us also battle with slow, onerous and unreliable legacy systems.

Not having access to the right tools and technology adds to the frustration and inertia many employees already feel. It makes it harder to get tasks done, which detracts from an employee’s sense of progress and achievement.

More than a third of employees feel their job is harder than it should be because of outdated processes and legacy technology, based on a worldwide survey by human capital think-tank The Workforce Institute.

A unified SaaS environment that enables employee self-service makes more flexible and efficient workflows possible. Your team can see and manage their own tasks, leaves, training, and career development information, and easily find important documents, forms or pay details.

Giving your employees access to cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions also enhances employee experience through user-friendly interfaces, mobility, and seamless integrations with essentials like Office 365. Employees can work from anywhere with an internet connection and maintain a sense of belonging and enthusiasm.

Creating a unified approach to employee experience

If there’s been any positive to come out of the pandemic, it’s the sense of unity that has been created. Unity not just among our workforce, but also among customers and across all corporate functions.

As Josh Bersin puts it, “In many ways, the pandemic forced us to tear down our functional silos and work more closely together than ever before. People are inspired and energised by the sense of purpose, togetherness, and urgency in this time of change.”

Leaders can build on this sense of unity through an integrated technology solution that provides an exceptional employee experience across the entire employee lifecycle. Backed by modern technology, you can build a great culture that supports your people to deliver their best, wherever they are located.

Cyber attacks against businesses and government entities of all sizes have grown in intensity and frequency worldwide, driven by disruptive technologies and geopolitical competition.

This is causing governments to re-evaluate the protections in place for their infrastructure and services critical to their country.

Towards the end of 2021, the Australian government made a big statement when it passed The Security Legislation Amendment (Critical Infrastructure) Bill 2021. The new Act, which reviews and revises the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act 2018 (SOCI Act), significantly expands both the number and type of businesses subject to the provisions of the law and increases the Federal Government’s powers.

The Federal Government powers include information-gathering directions, action directions and an intervention request, where the Minister for Home Affairs can access, alter, remove or disconnect parts of the asset in various ways.

These powers can be invoked where serious cyber security incidents occur in relation to critical infrastructure sector assets. The Act represents a new high watermark in the way governments are willing to impose obligations on private businesses to protect national interests. With no slowdown in the threat of cyber attacks on the horizon, these obligations are only likely to continue to increase for organisations and the people who lead them.

Cyber obligations are set to increase for company leaders

The government outlined in Australia’s Cyber Security Strategy 2020 that it will work with businesses to consider legislative changes that set a minimum cyber security baseline across the economy. As part of this, the government aims to clarify the duties for company directors and other business entities.

Considering the current risk environment, and the Federal Government making cyber security a priority, it is highly likely that the obligations and responsibilities for directors when it comes to cyber security will increase in the future.

Already directors around the world are paying a personal price for cyber security breaches.

In the US, Target’s CEO stepped down shortly after it was disclosed that the company had suffered a significant data breach, as did Sony Pictures Entertainment’s co-chair, and the Director of the US Office of Personnel Management, when similar incidents occurred.

In Australia, the obligations for directors vary depending on the industry. According to section 180 of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), directors need to guard against key business risks.

Cyber incidents fall into this category, so directors are already exposed to damages claims and regulatory investigations if they don’t ensure their companies have sufficient systems and processes in place to protect against cyber security threats.

For companies with an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL), the onus on directors is even greater. AFS licensees must have systems and controls in place to manage business risks. Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) have both made it clear that cyber risks are a key systems and control issue.

IT costs and skill shortages are making cyber security difficult

As the threat of cyber crimes continue to escalate, businesses are in a challenging position. Firstly, the cost of cyber security is expensive. According to new research from IBRS and Insight Economics, large organisations already dedicate an average of 7.5% of their ICT budget to protecting against cyber threats.

But the skills challenge is even greater than the increasing call on budgets.

Many companies do not have the time, or skillset to effectively protect against cyber threats. This is especially difficult for smaller government agencies and companies, who are just as susceptible to cyber attacks, but lack the large IT budgets and resources.

Australia is facing a skills shortage for cyber security professionals. Data from AustCyber illustrates that Australia needs an additional 7,000 skilled cyber security specialists over the next two years.

How SaaS can relieve regulatory pressure from companies

This might seem like a hopeless situation. However, one technology has emerged that addresses the key issues facing Australian organisations – Software as a Service (SaaS), a cloud-based technology.

SaaS delivers applications over the internet on a consumption basis. The SaaS provider, takes on the responsibility of ensuring its platform is the most up-to-date, secure and efficient. By its nature, SaaS is scalable, and a security patch applied to the system is immediately delivered to all customers.  

By moving to SaaS, organisations effectively transition from a model where they own and therefore must maintain the compliance and currency of their software, including against new cyber security vulnerabilities, to one where they are paying an expert to attest to those tasks being delivered as a service.

This is supported by research from IBRS and Insight Economics, which explores the economic impacts of SaaS. According to several case studies, governments and businesses that have migrated to SaaS found both an improvement in their cyber security, as well as a reduction in costs.

In fact, the report found that if all major Australian industries transitioned from their on-premise software to SaaS, Australia could stand to gain $252 billion in savings over the next 10 years.

Looking at the cyber security landscape in Australia, directors need to ask themselves if their systems are adequately prepared for a cyber security incident and consider the multiple benefits outsourcing the risk to a SaaS platform could bring.

For more information on the economic benefits of SaaS, download the research from IBRS and Insight Economics, commissioned by TechnologyOne.