If you are looking for a complete end-to-end Enterprise Service Provider to help transform your institution’s vision into today’s reality, look no further than CIBER.

CIBER is a recognized leader in providing consultation, services and solutions to the Higher Education community. Whether you are looking for project strategy and planning consultation, project budgeting, vendor selection, custom development, project implementation and integration, or hosted services, CIBER provides "vision to completion" enterprise services and solutions.

For more than a decade CIBER has been a leader in providing business application solutions to higher education clients worldwide. Our higher education expertise is tailored specifically to your institution whether you represent a community college, traditional college or university, Research 1 institution, public, private or for-profit institution. Over 175 educational institutions worldwide have worked with CIBER to prepare for, upgrade, implement and integrate their enterprise systems.

CIBER also possesses strong skills in infrastructure and application development. We assist clients with maintenance, conversions and upgrades to their technology infrastructure across all major platforms. We have helped our application partners develop an array of custom solutions tailored to the needs of higher education institutions, including recruitment, admissions, student records, academic advising, transcripts, graduation, financial aid, student billing, and alumni management.

CIBER Higher Education Strategic Services

CIBER’s Strategic Services are designed specifically for the pre-implementation/ software selection phase to help institutions be informed, prepared and positioned to make the right decisions for their future enterprise initiatives.

Strategic Planning

Building a sound strategy is the cornerstone for a successful systems project. CIBER provides best practices and industry recommendations that allow your institution to create a business plan to support your project planning efforts. Our strategic planning includes: assessment of project costs and resources, business processes and methods, operations, data flow and usability, technology and performance parameters.

	University of Wisconsin System (UW) "CIBER worked with UW-System to develop a whitepaper for us that recapped the best practices within higher education for implementing integrated ERP solutions as compared to "best of breed" ERP solutions and the trade-offs of each approach. Our expectation was a comprehensive executive level presentation of the facts and myths surrounding the current market, the leverage afforded by smart integration, and the pitfalls inherent in "best of breed" practices. From my perspective we got we what we needed, what we expected, and we were able to make good use of the information and data as delivered." Thomas J. Scott, Co-Director- Application Development and Integration, Division of Information Technology, UW – Madison

Project Definition and Planning

Project definition and planning are crucial foundational activities when the project vision, scope, objectives and governance are defined. CIBER’s project definition and planning examines the level at which your institution is prepared for a new enterprise system initiative or implementation.  This phase provides the assurance that project participants, including executives, administration, faculty and students understand the project goals and agree on how the project objectives will be achieved.

Project Definition and Planning addresses factors such as:

• Project Governance and personnel skill set
• Infrastructure
• Project milestones and timelines
• Project risk assessment
   
  

	Brandeis University When Brandeis University decided to update its event registration, alumni community, and online web applications with a single comprehensive system, they selected CIBER to assist in the project definition, scope, and planning. CIBER delivered project templates, experience and a defined approach that allowed Brandeis to achieve their desired results quickly and accurately. CIBER led the project charter process, conducted stakeholder-engagement interviews, and developed the initial project plan. At the end of the process, Brandeis had a solid and detailed planning foundation on which to move forward. "CIBER's considerable expertise, coupled with its commitment to responsive customer service, allowed us to develop and implement a cutting-edge product to enhance the experience for our users. CIBER's experience with projects of this type helped us determine industry standards and best practices to ensure a timely, successful launch." Myles Weisenberg, Vice President of Development

Cost Estimating and Justification

Your institution is faced with the challenges of replacing legacy systems, staying competitive to attract high-quality students and faculty, streamlining business processes and improving the quality of information to facilitate better decisions – often within a declining budget.  With our experience and network of higher education customers, we can help you to accurately estimate, validate and justify the real costs for meeting these challenges.

Business Process Assessment

Business process assessment, a necessary course of action when a new system or application is implemented, helps ensure a smooth transition to the new environment. This assessment analyzes and redesigns business processes and workflows prior to implementing a new system.

CIBER’s Business Process Assessment includes:

• Documenting and mapping current and needed business processes
• Prioritizing business processes based upon value impact analysis
• Facilitating workshops to design new business process models
• Preparing implementation plans for business process improvement, testing and deployment

Requirement Definition and Vendor Selection

There will come a time when your institution needs to replace aging administrative systems in order to remain competitive and provide optimum service to your students and employees.  CIBER can provide independent, experienced guidance through this process.

CIBER’s Vendor Selection Process includes:

• Stakeholder Communication, Survey and Validation Activities
• Define and Assess Business Processes and Requirements
• Define Requirement Scoring and Weighting
• Develop Demonstration Approach, Scripts and Scoring
• Develop RFP
• Assess Vendor Responses
   

	University of Colorado (CU) CIBER conducted ERP project definition, business process assessment and vendor selection with the University of Colorado's (CU) three campuses to prepare them for replacing their Student Information System. CIBER worked with CU to ensure that faculty and staff across multiple campuses had a shared understanding of the vision, scope and objectives for a new ERP project. CIBER helped CU use Advantiv DecisionDirector to identify necessary business processes and gather end-user ratings of the efficiency and user satisfaction for each process. Next CIBER worked with CU to define and “weight” each business requirements, and to develop a detailed RFP for a new Student Information System. Finally CIBER helped CU develop detailed, scripted demonstrations, and created a scoring matrix to allow CU to evaluate vendor responses and demonstrations objectively.

Enterprise Security Assessment

CIBER offers a full suite of assessments to evaluate the security practices, vulnerabilities, risks, regulatory compliance and overall security strategy of higher education institutions. Our assessments provide a comprehensive, objective review of the presence and effectiveness of technical and programmatic security controls. CIBER can provide several types of assessments to meet your security needs:

• Risk and Vulnerability Assessment
• Regulatory Compliance Analysis
• Institution Security Strategy
• Identity Theft Assessment
• Business Continuity Management

With these assessments, CIBER will provide a full range of monitoring and management services for reliable, consistent protection. This includes real-time 24x7 event monitoring, security device and vulnerability management, event correlation, compliance reporting, and incident investigation, response and recovery.

Implementation and Integration Services

CIBER provides a unique combination of technical software knowledge, functional expertise and project management experience that helps customers streamline decision-making and reduce implementation time. Our implementation services adhere to a proven methodology that helps control costs, effectively manage project schedules and minimize risks.

Based on our experience with a wide range of hardware, software and enterprise solutions, CIBER has developed a well-deserved reputation for providing best-in-class Integration Services and Solutions.  CIBER has developed powerful toolsets that integrate different applications and systems together, link front and back-office systems and connect legacy components with the latest technology.

	University of Houston System (UHS) UHS needed one integrated ERP solution that would create efficiency in processing and reporting across all four campuses, while still allowing each campus to operate independently. UHS chose CIBER because they felt confident about our extensive higher education business experience and our ERP software knowledge. With this combination UHS felt CIBER was the right consultant to deliver the level of expertise necessary for a successful implementation and integration of all three applications, into one integrated ERP system. "We could not have completed this project without CIBER’s expertise, both technical and functional. CIBER always had an experienced consultant when we were short of staff and needed to add a particular skill to our project team mix." Bob Shortle, University of Houston System Project Director

Organizational Change Management

Change management encompasses activities that help institutions successfully manage the user acceptance of new processes and systems.  Ultimately, the ability to realize your vision for a new enterprise system lies in the users who must change the way they work.  CIBER will work with you to develop a change management strategy, and form a dedicated team of “Change Agents” to successfully implement and achieve acceptances of the changes in organizational policy, business processes and technology.

Upgrade and Migration Services

Upgrade and migration services are important and essential steps in expanding the depth and breadth of your system. CIBER works with your team to ensure that your upgrade and migration are well planned and seamless, thus maintaining the integrity of your existing data.

CIBER’s Higher Education Credentials

• 175 higher education institutions worldwide including: U.S., Canada, Mexico, Europe and Asia
• Higher education solution provider since 1996
• 100+ dedicated higher education consultants
• Public, private and for-profit, 2-year, 4-year and Research 1 institution expertise

Higher Education Services

• Strategic Guidance
• Project Definition, Planning and Budgeting
• Business Process Assessment, Requirement Definition and Vendor Selection
• Enterprise Security Assessment
• Enterprise Integration
• ERP Implementation and Upgrade
• Application Development and Management
• IT Operations (Helpdesk and Hosting)
• Business Intelligence Solutions
• Organizational Change Management

Higher Education Clients

Here are just a few of our Higher Education clients:

Bowie State University Brandeis University Brigham Young University - Hawaii California State University, Los Angeles Cerritos Community College Clarkson University Clemson University Cornell University École des Hautes Études Commerciales Kent State University Long Beach Community College

Los Rios Community College Marquette University Mira Costa Community College North Texas University System Northern Kentucky University Ohio State University Palomar Community College Peralta Community College District Rose State University Simon Fraser University Towson University