Many universities work hard to accommodate student needs in order to create the perfect environment for them to spur growth and innovation, however it’s still easy for students and their parents to question universities about not doing enough, or not focusing on where they should be focused on.
Now, thanks to Microsoft solutions, universities and other higher education institutions can make more informed decisions in order to increase their performance and hit their goals. A university’s ability to systematically measure its performance is very important to them particularly when government funding is allocated to performance-based funding models.
“To develop a performance-driven culture, decision makers need a way to collect, report, and analyze data; a way to develop data-based insight that drives decisions and actions; and a way to use data systematically to advance outcomes that align with the university’s objectives.” – Microsoft Education Team
This is where Microsoft’s business intelligence (BI) tools come in handy, allowing universities to combine and monitor data comprehensively, and giving them the necessary backing and proof to base their business decisions on. Such data may be used to make decisions on academic advising, retention improvement, and general institution assessment.
Microsoft is advising on the use of its powerful tools included in Office 365 (Excel in particular), SharePoint, SQL Server and last but not least, Power BI for Office 365 which is available with an Office 365 Education E3 subscription.
“Power BI for Office 365 enhances your experiences with Excel by providing features to allow you to share and collaborate on your insights in new and powerful ways with features like Power BI Sites, Q&A and Mobile BI. Power BI for Office 365 is available as an added service on top of your institution’s Office 365 Education E3 subscription.” – Microsoft Education Team
These tools should rapidly decrease the time required to make critical performance-based decisions in universities, making the running of what can be a massive, global educational institution a lot more efficient.
Further reading: Education, Excel, Microsoft, Office, Office 365
