Over the past 15 years, Hexaware delivered university IT modernization with unified access, faster releases, and reliable support across student, finance, and HR systems for a top Australian university.
Client
A research-intensive public university in Australia
One of the country’s largest universities, serving a diverse community of students, academics, and professional staff. The institution operates complex, interdependent systems—student information, HR, finance, research, and collaboration—that must stay available, secure, and easy to use throughout the academic calendar.
Challenge
Modernize core platforms without disrupting university operations
The university needed to evolve legacy platforms while keeping the lights on for students and staff. Key pain points included:
- Aging PeopleSoft Campus, finance, and HR landscapes that were lagging the market in features, security, and performance
- A complex integration layer that impacted the conversion of student prospects to admissions
- Fragmented sign-on experiences across critical apps
- Siloed collaboration tools that held back research and operations
- Manual testing and release processes that slowed delivery
- Limited automation and repeatability in infrastructure provisioning
- Growing demand for responsive student services and staff productivity
Solution
A phased, low-risk transformation program
Hexaware partnered with the university across multiple modernization waves, planning each step around academic cycles to minimize disruption.
- PeopleSoft (Campus, Finance, HR): Continuous enhancement, stabilization, and PeopleSoft managed services with reliable university ERP support to keep core operations resilient and compliant.
- Oracle SSO: Implemented single sign-on for a simpler, more secure experience across key applications.
- Collaboration uplift: Migrated to SharePoint to streamline content management, teamwork, and governance.
- Digital Assurance (Testing) Managed Services: Industrialized testing with reusable assets and risk-based coverage for faster, safer releases.
- CRM operations: Supported Microsoft Dynamics CRM to strengthen engagement with students, alumni, and partners.
- Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Codified environments to enable consistent, repeatable deployments and easier recoverability.
- Automation with RPA: Deployed bots to automate repetitive back-office tasks and free staff bandwidth for higher-value work.
- Targeted platform roadmaps: Planned campus systems upgrade initiatives and student information system modernization to align with funding cycles and peak periods.
- End-to-end services: Delivered comprehensive campus IT services that span advisory, build, support, and ongoing optimization.
- Streamlined Marketing (current engagement): Streamlining the student prospect-to-admission and enrollment process through a simplified integration interface.
Our approach: co-design with stakeholders, iterate in small batches, and measure outcomes—then reinvest learnings into the next phase of university digital transformation.
Benefits
Measurable improvements that compound over time
- Better experiences: A unified login journey and smoother collaboration tools reduced friction for students and staff.
- Faster delivery: Standardized testing and IaC shortened release cycles and improved change confidence.
- Higher reliability: Proactive support for Campus, Finance, HR, and CRM platforms stabilized critical services during peak periods.
- Lower effort: RPA removed repetitive tasks, allowing teams to focus on student services, research support, and innovation.
- Governance & security: Centralized access and platform controls strengthened compliance across the application estate.
Summary
A trusted strategic partner for end-to-end university digital IT operations
Over the past 15 years, Hexaware has helped this leading university modernize at pace without sacrificing stability. From core SIS/ERP and CRM to collaboration, testing, and automation, we’ve delivered a repeatable operating model that keeps systems student-ready, secure, and future-proof—an enduring example of university IT modernization done right.
Ready to make university IT operations feel effortless?
Let’s develop a phased plan that aligns with your academic calendar and enhances the experiences of your students, staff, and researchers—one release at a time.
