I have been supporting educational institutions since 1998 with their administrative student information systems. During the last 18 years, I have supported institutions with ERP implementation, Enterprise Architecture, Application Development and overall Enterprise Management. The first 10 years of my professional career included supporting educational institutions with their Systems Integration needs and I realized the plight of IT staff at these institutions. They are constantly being challenged to integrate the ERP system that was designed in 1980’s with the latest products and solutions. The existing approach of using scripts, batch jobs, and other deprecated technologies was getting increasingly cumbersome and expensive.
I founded N2N in 2010 with a singular mission to make seamless integration affordable for us. To this effect, we designed an integration platform that seamlessly integrates campus infrastructure with the different products on-campus. Over the last 6 years, we have successfully integrated the legacy SIS systems with Mobile Applications, SaaS products, CRM platforms, Content Delivery Systems, and Learning Management platforms.
After successfully launching illuminate last year, I am more confident than ever that my firm mission to solve the integration is now within reach. Illuminate allows customers to build and secure web-services within minutes. Using Illuminate, developers can build web-services using SQL , PLSQL or stored procedures as the Business Object.
Illuminate allows customers to build and secure web-services within minutes. Using Illuminate, developers can build web-services using SQL , PLSQL or stored procedures as the Business Object.
I am most excited about the potential for Illuminate to support the emerging trends in education. New entrepreneurs are actively in the process of creating “uber for learning”, “facebook for learning”, “google for learning” and many other disruptive technologies that have the ability to completely transform the way we learn in the future.
My resolution for the year 2017 is to enable every educational institution with the power of Web Services – Kiran Kodithala, CEO, N2N Integration Inc.
Integration use-cases
2016 has been a great year, we have successfully demonstrated the following use-cases successfully
The ability to expose student and faculty data to the best mobile platform on the marketplace.
Support the integration of SIS data with a CRM platform built on Sales Force
Support the integration of SIS data between campuses in a consortia environment
Support tech product vendor with the ability to connect data from their partner institutions in a turnkey and affordable fashion
N2N’s 2017 resolution
During the year 2017, we will focus all our energies to enable every educational institution with the power of web-services. To this effect, we are committed to partnering with every educational software vendor, every educational institution, and every consortium that supports the mission of affordable and efficient administrative systems on campus.
Together we can ensure the era of enlightenment via simplified and secure data access. I strongly believe that this data access will enable innovation at each campus.
Contact us to let us know how we can help your campus innovate. We are committed to supporting innovation at each educational institution this year.
One of the best things about technology is the different ways it enables change in institutions. But that change isn’t necessarily taken as a good thing by everyone involved. Take, for instance, the massive amounts of technology that have been developed and are now being used in the world of higher education. In some cases, that new tech is being put to use to make life easier for both teachers and students.
Class materials, syllabi, and educational opportunities can all be found online using one of the apps like Blackboard that most higher education institutions have been working with for some time now. Students can communicate with each other, as well as with the professor, quickly and easily while using this technology.
Take the flipped classroom system, where students study course materials on their own, and then spend time solving problems and discussing material in class, rather than being taught the material and engaging in problem solving at home by themselves. This isn’t a new idea by any means, but it’s easier to accomplish with the help of online material and resources.
Another revolution that has begun with the help of new technology is the rise of online classes. For students enrolled in college, many classes are offered online, and interactions with the students and professors are all done online, or with periodic meetings.
In turn, that has led to MOOCs—Massive Open Online Classes—which anyone with an internet connection has access to. Some students can get credit for the courses, but most offer a certification of completion, rather than actual college credit.
The pushback to all of this has come from those who don’t see a great benefit coming from the digitization of classes and coursework. In many cases, they do have a valid point. Some people, students included, feel that they work better with real interactions with their professor in a classroom environment, rather than an entirely virtual classroom.
But no one is suggesting going entirely virtual, and ignoring the benefits that these kinds of innovations bring can be dangerous for a university’s bottom line, as well as their reputation. What we need to see happen is for faculty to be encouraged to use new technology, and given some time to experiment and find what works best for them and their students.
That means administrators are going to have to be the ones who encourage organizational change by investing in technology and rewarding faculty who take on the challenges of teaching with it. The road to better education through innovation won’t always be easy, but it will be worthwhile to pursue.
More higher education institutions are developing and nurturing these kinds of programs because they see where higher education is headed. If you want your school to stay on the cutting edge, then adopting new and useful educational tools is only the beginning. Give us a call today if you’d like to hear more about how N2N can bring your campus into the future.
Hybrid Integration Platforms, or HIPs, allow citizen integrators to calibrate and manage APIs, set security layers and cross walk variables without coding or help from IT. What this means in plain language is that an HIP can help solve integration problems by allowing users to establish data flows between SaaS, PaaS and on-premises applications and data systems at their discretion.
For colleges and universities, the need for HIPs coincides with the change from legacy ERP systems to hybrid, cloud-based ERP. These cloud-based apps are being added as needed, rather than the traditional heavy customization of monolithic, on-premise ERP solutions. Basically, that means that all of these disparate apps need to be able to communicate with each other effectively, and this isn’t always the case. That’s where HIPs come into play.
At N2N, we’ve designed our Illuminate platform to be the first commercially available HIP for the higher education market. Illuminate acts as translator, enabling different cloud-based apps to seamlessly and securely communicate with each other. So when students use a mobile device to check grades, schedule classes, or look at financial aid, they are able to do so safe in the knowledge that their information is being kept private, and only being used by apps that need their data.
This is important for colleges and universities around the country because in coming years, more and more of their ERP solutions are going to be cloud-based. Adding apps every year doesn’t seem like a good solution unless you can find a cost-effective way to integrate them together.
And that’s exactly what Illuminate provides. App developers work with us because they know they can market their product as flexible and secure, and colleges love us because we help them realize the dream of a fully integrated campus. Students may not know what goes on in the background when they open their mobile apps, but they still reap the benefits of HIPs like Illuminate. Students expect to find cutting edge technology on campus when they get to college, and falling behind can cost a school in enrollment and the quality of the students they attract.
And because Illuminate was built with the security of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), you can rest easy knowing that apps are using the highest levels of cloud-security available. We know you need integration, but we also know that it’s useless if it isn’t secure. Using OCI means Illuminate is the safest HIP on the market today.
At N2N, we understand the trends developing in ERP implementation, and that’s why we built Illuminate, to help educational institutions solve their integration problems. When students have access to fast and secure mobile apps, it enhances their education and everyone wins. Adding the newest apps on campus can be difficult for colleges, but with Illuminate, it doesn’t have to be.
So contact N2N Services today if you’d like to hear more about Illuminate and how our experts can help you with all of your integration needs.
At N2N, we’re proud of our background in higher education and the service we provide to colleges and universities around the country. Illuminate is an invaluable asset to colleges that are running more and more apps and systems each year, and looking for a way to securely integrate them all. We know Illuminate is a boon for higher education institutions, but that’s not the only place it can work. Yes, we pride ourselves on helping colleges, but we also pride ourselves on our ability to make our services work for a diverse group of businesses and institutions.
Now that businesses are using the cloud without the reservations that they once had when it first came onto the scene, there are certain issues that almost all businesses face ones that aren’t limited to colleges. The cloud allows businesses to easily store and access data and applications using any device, without having to deal with expensive hardware purchases. This boosts productivity and efficiency, while driving down costs. With the growth of cloud-based applications, companies ended up using these apps along with older on-premise legacy applications. The trick is getting all of these to work together, whether they’re cloud-based or on-premise.
And that?s exactly what Illuminate does. Illuminate is what’s called an iPaaS, or Integrated Platform as a Service. It acts as a central hub to integrate all of the applications a business uses, whether cloud-based or on-premise. So there usually isn’t any hardware to install, and our “concierge approach” means that we provide integration as a service, with no lengthy training required for implementation. No matter what combination of legacy, on-premises systems and cutting-edge SaaS applications your business uses, Illuminate acts as a central hub to integrate them all. It allows each program to communicate with every other program seamlessly and securely, and makes it easy to accommodate the addition of as many new applications as may be necessary in the future.
One dashboard within Illuminate allows administrators to view and monitor transactions that pass through the system, to ensure that information input into any one application will instantly be shared with all other participating applications as well, so that all systems are always up-to-date and coordinated.
Don?t think that all these transactions lead to less security, though. Illuminate allows for central management and monitoring of data transfers, helping to ensure compliance with all regulations.
At N2N, we know a college can,t be run just like a business, but we also know that businesses today face many of the same challenges as higher education institutions as they look to the cloud to handle their applications. With Illuminate, no longer will employees need to update several different systems with new data, or search through several different applications to find information. Illuminate automates those tedious tasks, freeing up resources for other projects.
In a typical college classroom or study area, displays and TVs have replaced whiteboards and markers as the easiest way for students and professors to share information and collaborate with each other. For a long time, these displays were wired to desks or perhaps a podium at the center of a room. Anyone wishing to share something from a laptop or device had to connect to the display from that one position in the room.
But increasingly, colleges are beginning to experiment with wireless display technology that allows professors and instructors to walk around freely with their devices and lets students share videos and projects with the rest of the class.
If you think about it, this is really just the next logical step. Smartphones and tablets have become so common on campuses that we don?t think twice about seeing students operating one or more devices. Wireless display technology is simply capitalizing on the fact that students and professors have their projects and data on hand, and want to be able to share them quickly and easily.
Wireless display technology offers plenty of benefits that help simplify and enhance the learning experience. WiDi technology eliminates the need for cables, and allows students and instructors to move freely, or stay exactly where they are. There?s no need to change seats or exchange one laptop for another. This in turn reduces expenses for cabling and switch equipment.
But one of the real benefits of WiDi technology is that it improves collaboration and makes it easier than ever for students to share videos, pictures, presentations, and any other information critical to their studies. This is important in the classroom, but other areas like libraries and study rooms can benefit from the same technology. Students gathering together to study can easily compare notes, watch presentations, or collaborate on group projects?without the hassle of constant plugging and unplugging from wired displays. It even gives students and instructors the convenience of dual-screen multitasking. They can now stream a video from their smartphone, and while it?s playing, open email or search the internet.
With WiDi technology, colleges and universities can add another component to the technological innovations that are driving education. At N2N, we understand the complex relationship between technology and the higher education world. More technology can certainly be a boon for colleges, but it can also create problems as more and more apps and systems are added each year. That?s why we?ve created the N2N Integration Cloud specifically for higher education institutions. The NIC integrates all your existing apps and systems, and acts a translator, providing seamless and secure data transfers across all systems. Adding new apps is easy, and the NIC can be scaled up or down depending on the needs of your particular institution.
If you?d like to learn more about the NIC and the intersection of technology and education, contact N2N Services today.
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