Magic Quadrant for Higher Education Administrative Suites, 2006

Transcription

1 Industry Research Publication Date: 26 September 2006 ID Number: G Magic Quadrant for Higher Education Administrative Suites, 2006 Marti Harris, Michael Zastrocky, Jan-Martin Lowendahl Higher education administrative suite providers are in a tight race to differentiate their products and services. Institutions find themselves with more choices and stronger products to evaluate than in recent years. Reproduction and distribution of this publication in any form without prior written permission is forbidden. The information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. Gartner disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of such information. Although Gartner's research may discuss legal issues related to the information technology business, Gartner does not provide legal advice or services and its research should not be construed or used as such. Gartner shall have no liability for errors, omissions or inadequacies in the information contained herein or for interpretations thereof. The opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice.

2 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW The market for higher education administrative applications finds more solutions and more stability. SunGard Higher Education's Unified Digital Campus has begun to move from concept to product releases. Oracle has strengthened its higher education position through the new release of the PeopleSoft Enterprise and Campus Solutions, while SAP has progressed with its student system. Jenzabar's Internet Campus Solution (JICS) portal and Non-Traditional System (NTS) provide customers with more choices. The good news is that higher education institutions are beginning to have more and better choices than in prior years. The bad news is that the selection decision is getting more difficult as vendor vision and execution come closer to completion and as differences are less noticeable. This requires a great deal of human and political investment in the selection process. MAGIC QUADRANT Figure 1. Magic Quadrant for Higher Education Administrative Suites, 2006 Source: Gartner (September 2006) Publication Date: 26 September 2006/ID Number: G Page 2 of 12

3 Market Overview This year's Magic Quadrant includes several additional vendors Agresso, Integrated Tertiary Software (ITS), Oficina de Cooperacion Universitaria (OCU) and TechnologyOne to provide a global view of administrative suite providers for higher education. We have also increased the number of suites reviewed by breaking out Jenzabar and SunGard Higher Education by product, instead of viewing them as a single company providing multiple suites. Datatel, Oracle and SunGard have maintained their position in the Leaders quadrant. SunGard continues to set the pace with a strong understanding of higher education administrative needs and a new management team with a solid vision. Jenzabar EX and Jenzabar CX moved up in both ability to execute and their vision, and they are positioned as challengers along with SAP. SunGard PowerCAMPUS has benefited from the recent SunGard Higher Education management change and joins the challengers. Campus Management has moved into the Visionaries quadrant this year and has become a viable contender for small or midsize institutions. Overall, the competition for higher education administrative applications is heating up, and the global picture is improving from the tight budget period of 2001 to Market Definition/Description Higher education administrative suites are becoming more complex, and interoperability issues have pushed vendors to create, acquire or build partnerships with other vendors to meet pressing needs. A higher education administrative suite comprises at least three components that are loosely or tightly coupled: Financials, including procurement, accounts payable, accounts receivable, fixed assets, general ledger, budget development, sponsored research accounting and endowment management Human resources, including personnel management and payroll Student information, including enrollment management; financial aid (with communication management, packaging and reporting); registration, grading and transcript; advising; and degree audit Although the following capabilities are not requirements for inclusion in this Magic Quadrant, they are important to higher education and are often included in requests for proposals and requests for quotations: Grants management, with both pre-award and post-award tracking and management Advancement, including fund raising, corporate giving and alumni management Facilities scheduling Enterprise portals The interoperability of modules within a suite, along with middleware, will push some vendors toward partnerships and development in the middleware space. Security and identity management strategies are expected to be included in vendor offerings. Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria To be included in this year's higher education suite Magic Quadrant, vendors must have: A customer base that includes degree-granting institutions public and/or private Publication Date: 26 September 2006/ID Number: G Page 3 of 12

4 Added A full-function application suite, minimally including a student system, financials and human resources Regular inquiries from Gartner clients during 2006 Vendors added this year include TechnologyOne, Agresso, OCU and ITS. In addition, two vendors that currently sell two separate higher education administrative suites are being included individually for each of their suites. These include SunGard Banner and SunGard PowerCAMPUS, as well as Jenzabar CX and Jenzabar EX. Dropped None. Evaluation Criteria Ability to Execute A vendor must be able to deliver on a vision, and the Magic Quadrant's vertical axis (Ability to Execute) measures how well the vendor performs against today's assessment metrics. The following criteria are considered when evaluating the ability to execute: Product/Service: Current higher education suite functionality across the application components described above. This includes the underlying technical architecture and the completeness of the modules/components offered. Overall Viability: The organization's overall financial health, the financial and practical success of the business, and the likelihood the company can or will continue to invest in its higher education suite. Sales Execution/Pricing: The vendor's capabilities in all sales activities and the structure that supports them. This criterion includes an assessment of the suite license costs, implementation cost and ongoing cost of ownership. Market Responsiveness and Track Record: The vendor's overall effectiveness in the market, including its responsiveness to users, its ability to articulate a clear value proposition and the number of live implementations of its higher education suite. Customer Experience: The vendor's ability to deliver a product that meets the institution's needs, as well as the ability to provide pre- and post-sale support that enables clients to successfully employ their higher education suite. This includes the quality and availability of vendor support, in addition to implementation services. Operations: The ability of the organization to meet its goals and commitments with respect to the higher education suite. Factors include the quality of the organizational structure, such as skills, experiences, programs, systems and other vehicles that enable the vendor to operate effectively and efficiently in the higher education market on an ongoing basis. Marketing Execution: The level of public-domain awareness of the solution and the perceived quality of the vendor's brand in the higher education market. Publication Date: 26 September 2006/ID Number: G Page 4 of 12

5 Table 1. Ability to Execute Evaluation Criteria Evaluation Criteria Product/Service Overall Viability (Business Unit, Financial, Strategy, Organization) Sales Execution/Pricing Market Responsiveness and Track Record Marketing Execution Customer Experience Operations Source: Gartner (September 2006) Weighting High Standard Low Standard High Standard Low Completeness of Vision The vendor must have a vision for the higher education market that matches the currently stated and expected vision for client/prospect institutions. Our assessment of a vendor's completeness of vision includes the following criteria: Market Understanding: The ability of the vendor to understand higher education user needs and translate those needs into products and services. Vendors that show the highest degree of vision both listen to and understand higher education user wants and needs, and they can shape or enhance those wants with their added vision. Marketing Strategy: A clear, differentiated set of messages that match their vision for higher education with the products and services offered and that are consistently communicated throughout the organization and externalized effectively to the higher education market. Sales Strategy: The strategy for selling higher education administrative suites that uses the appropriate network of sales, marketing, service and communication affiliates that extend the scope and depth of market reach, skills, expertise, technologies, services and the higher education customer base. Product Strategy: The higher education administrative suite product strategy, covering breadth and depth of functionality, underlying technology, and openness. Business Model: The soundness of each vendor's strategy to bring higher education administrative suites to market that are sustainable for the future. Vertical/Industry Strategy: Not rated. Innovation: Direct, related, complementary and synergistic layouts of resources, expertise or capital for investment, consolidation, defensive or pre-emptive purposes. Geographic Strategy: Not rated. Table 2. Completeness of Vision Evaluation Criteria Evaluation Criteria Market Understanding Marketing Strategy Weighting Standard Low Publication Date: 26 September 2006/ID Number: G Page 5 of 12

6 Evaluation Criteria Sales Strategy Offering (Product) Strategy Business Model Vertical/Industry Strategy Innovation Geographic Strategy Source: Gartner (September 2006) Weighting Low High High No rating High No rating Leaders Vendors in the Leaders quadrant have the highest combined measures of ability to execute and completeness of vision. They are performing well, are prepared for the future and have strong customer bases that have fully implemented their suites. These vendors' assets include strong channel partners, consistent financial performance, broad platform support, good customer support, the most-comprehensive and scalable products in the market, and the ability to deliver all the key higher education administrative suite capabilities. Strong vision reflects a solid product and go-to-market strategy for higher education, combined with a management vision for higher education. Challengers Challengers often have a substantial number of installations, but lack the vision of leaders or don't own all the most-relevant components of an administrative application suite for higher education. Instead, they leverage partnerships to round out their solutions. Visionaries Visionaries have strong vision, but their market performances have not demonstrated good execution or they lack a substantial number of installations. They may partner for several core administrative suite components. Niche Players Niche players either successfully focus on a small segment of the market, or do not focus on a particular segment, but have modest horizons and possibilities owing to their inability to innovate or outperform other vendors. A niche player may also be a recent entrant to the market that has yet to establish "mind share" for its ideas and market share with its products. Vendor Comments Agresso Agresso is a well-known vendor of HR and financial systems in the Northern European public sector, and it has more than 400 higher education clients globally using Agresso's HR and/or financial systems. Agresso's ability to adapt to local regulations makes it an option for many higher education institutions going for a best-of-breed strategy. However, Agresso's late 2005 acquisition of U.K.-based Distinction Systems strengthens its position in the post-16 education sector. We expect further development of the Distinction product suite under the Agresso brand to enhance its higher education position. While Agresso's current offering of a full higher education suite in North America has met with limited success, the acquisition of Distinction now Publication Date: 26 September 2006/ID Number: G Page 6 of 12

7 provides Agresso with a higher education suite, including a student information system, in the European market. Agresso's future success will come from the European full-suite offering. U.K.- based institutions looking for a higher education administrative suite should consider Agresso. Campus Management Campus Management's CampusVue Collegiate student system is a practical fit for higher education institutions looking for a Microsoft-based solution. Through a series of smart acquisitions and partnerships, Campus Management now offers its own integrated financial solution as an alternative to its use of the Microsoft Dynamic GP and Blackbaud financial systems. The CampusPortal supports cross-application needs and Web service integration, enabling ease of movement between applications. Campus Management's evolution to serviceoriented architecture (SOA) introduced CampusLink application programming interfaces (APIs) this year, which will make it easier for customers to develop and integrate third-party applications. While Campus Management has a strong reputation in the propriety marketplace, it is still challenged to provide a broad range of successful implementations in the traditional higher education marketplace. Campus Management's low cost, tight integration of modules, fast implementation, move to open APIs and aggressive marketing are helping establish the company in the traditional small to midsize college market. Small to midsize institutions should include Campus Management on their lists of potential suite vendors. Datatel The strength of Datatel Colleague is in having one of the largest higher education customer bases and a long history of successful implementations in midsize institutions and community college systems. Expanding the customer base to include larger institutions has demonstrated Colleague's ability to scale in size and complexity of systems. Colleague is platform independent, and a growing number of new customers select the SQL Server option. Users acknowledge that Datatel's proprietary code generator Envision is inefficient and requires a considerable amount of proprietary knowledge. Another common complaint is that it is difficult to get information out of Colleague. Datatel's recently announced Operational Data Store and alliances with SAS, istrategy, and Business Objects for reporting and data warehousing should improve data extraction. Customer loyalty remains consistently high due to satisfaction with support and training. Colleague is a mature, full-featured suite of higher-education-specific applications. Colleague implementations complete successfully and on time. We expect Datatel's future growth to be built on customer utilization of the SQL Server platform. Institutions seeking a solid performing product and strong customer support should consider Colleague. Of the three currently available platforms, we recommend that new Datatel customers select SQL or Oracle. Integrated Tertiary Software Integrated Tertiary Software (ITS) is a small company out of South Africa that has been providing software to the South African tertiary education sector since In recent years, ITS opened an office in Ireland to support a small client base there and has now expanded its client base to include New Zealand. The software is built around the Oracle database, Oracle application server and Unix platforms on which Oracle is supported. While the client base extends from small to large institutions with more than 85,000 students, the software has been used mostly by institutions in the midrange with a need for a lower-cost solution. As a small, mostly regional software provider, ITS has struggled to keep pace with technology innovation and changing customer needs. However, its recent development of ienabler to provide self-service to students and staff is an important enhancement to meet the needs of current and prospective clients. One Publication Date: 26 September 2006/ID Number: G Page 7 of 12

8 or more of the ienabler modules are in use by roughly 25% of its client base. Sub-Saharan African institutions should include ITS as a regional option to meet their information needs. Jenzabar (CX) Jenzabar has incorporated a new vision in recent years for its CX product, which is a solution for larger and more-complex institutions. Jenzabar CX incorporates an object-oriented, multitiered architecture, using J2EE standards. While the current database is IBM Informix Dynamic Server and the platform is Unix, the company is working toward database and platform independence, which we expect by the end of JICS provides a unifying portal approach to the CX solutions. CX users find JICS and the Constituent Relationship Modules to be valuable assets. CX also provides access to the Jenzabar NTS. NTS is designed to support and manage continuing education, degree completion, and certificate and other nontraditional programs, and it has been purchased as a stand-alone product. Jenzabar has moved the CX product into a challenger role that makes it a viable solution for a broad range of institutions in North America. Until platform and database independence is successfully completed, institutions should consider CX only when a Unix-based platform and an Informix database are a technology fit. Jenzabar (EX) Jenzabar EX is a SQL Server-based solution that has been positioned solidly in the smaller college market and provides an alternative to institutions seeking an out-of-the-box approach to support administrative computing needs. Jenzabar is challenged to show that EX is a lower-cost solution, which prospects expect from a Microsoft-based product. JICS provides a unifying portal approach to EX solutions. User response has been favorable regarding both JICS and the Constituent Relationship Modules for providing user-focused features, as well as administrative data and business logic features. EX uses College Board's PowerFAIDS for financial aid support and Ad Astra for course and event scheduling, which are integrated components of the full suite. EX is designed around the Total Campus Management (TCM) concept for an integrated, Internet-based "dashboard reporting" solution. EX is designed to be deployed on Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional or Windows XP Professional client computers. Small to midsize institutions seeking a Microsoft based suite should consider Jenzabar EX. Oficina de Cooperacion Universitaria (OCU) OCU is Spain's largest higher education administrative suite provider, with systems in 66 out of the country's 71 universities, as well as 16 customers in Latin America. With its origin in the higher education community and its corporate form as a consortium of six universities and the financial group Grupo Santander, OCU has many high-quality channels into the higher education community, providing a solid base for product development. Although relatively impressive in its range of features, the financial strength and breadth of support cannot match the global competitors. This, together with the fact that only Spanish and Catalan language versions are offered, positions OCU as a niche player. With support services being provided for a growing number of customers in Latin America, universities in Latin America may consider OCU if support services prove satisfactory. Oracle PeopleSoft Enterprise (Higher Education) Oracle's PeopleSoft Enterprise and Campus Solutions suite is a full-featured mature suite of applications for higher education serving a large customer base. Oracle's commitment to Publication Date: 26 September 2006/ID Number: G Page 8 of 12

9 PeopleSoft higher education customers has delivered promised versions and updates while seeking feedback from the Higher Education User Group (HEUG). Yet a clearly defined path to the future Fusion product to which Enterprise will migrate remains elusive to customers, even with the road map. Few competitors match the Campus Solutions student system for features and functionality. Thus, it has a large committed higher education customer base and continues to be implemented across a broad base of global clients. Oracle introduced the new PeopleSoft CRM for Higher Education this year, which added valuable recruiting and enrollment management, among other features, based on PeopleSoft's well-established CRM offerings. Updates and support of Enterprise continue to be essential to users, but a more complete explanation of the post-peopletools Fusion product and migration path is needed for customers and prospects making decisions. But with the Fusion future road map, a customer's continued commitment to Enterprise will mean a commitment to the Oracle Fusion technology stack. Enterprise is best suited for large to midsize institutions. Prospects should consider Enterprise when seeking a full-featured suite of higher education applications, but must also be committed to an Oracle Fusion product migration in the future. SAP SAP's Higher Education & Research solution is built on a strong technology infrastructure foundation, an open architecture and an integrated approach to development. SAP is continuing to improve its higher education capabilities, but it does not yet have a mature offering that has proven itself in the marketplace. SAP is known globally as a leader in business application industries, and while more than 300 higher education customers are running the financial, human resource and/or logistic applications, fewer than 20 have implemented any option of the student system. Although SAP is still considered a new competitor in the higher education administrative suite market lacking the full range of functionality and features found in more mature student information systems (SISs) SAP is gaining valuable experience from ongoing implementations at the University of Kentucky and Purdue University. While there are ongoing projects at other institutions, SAP's future success in higher education will rest on its ability to implement the student system at these two universities. The financial aid function, which is considered a core function in North American SISs, must be contracted separately to a third-party vendor, Sigma. Even in SAP's open architecture, this is a bolt-on application that requires additional implementation time. Due to the institutional responsibility for integrating financial aid, SAP's lack of control of future product development and release dates of the Sigma product will become a recurring cost for institutions. With an established global reputation, SAP's service and support system is strong to support break-fix needs, but the support center does not answer questions regarding implementation or specific pieces of functionality. SAP's model is for this to be the responsibility of the implementation partner or the SAP consulting organization. The higher education product development team works closely with its current customers, and the user group is active and influential, including areas such as higher-education-specific CRM and business intelligence. SAP's Higher Education & Research solution will require SAP skill sets that are not routinely available in higher education institutions, thus giving universities already running SAP shops some advantages for taking on a full SAP higher education administrative suite implementation. SunGard Higher Education (Banner) SunGard Banner is an established leader offering a mature and full-featured higher education administrative suite. Although particularly strong in the North American market, SunGard has strategically positioned Banner in the global market. Today, most of the Banner customers have moved to version 7, which introduced an open API, enabling improved integration and Publication Date: 26 September 2006/ID Number: G Page 9 of 12

10 interoperability. This strengthens SunGard's overall vision of the Unified Digital Campus as Banner continues to evolve toward SOA based on the Oracle technology stack. A migration from a traditional "waterfall" application development strategy to an "agile" development approach should result in faster and more-client-responsive creation of new features. Banner's service and support have improved in recent years and now benefit from the formation earlier this year of SunGard Higher Education, which brought together all the SunGard higher education companies' resources into one organization. Institutions needing a mature, full-featured functional suite with a large peer reference base should consider Banner. SunGard Higher Education (PowerCAMPUS) SunGard PowerCAMPUS is an integrated suite of applications, including the core PowerCAMPUS student administration applications, Microsoft Dynamic GP for HR and Financials, and College Board's PowerFAIDS for financial aid. Though building on partnerships can have advantages, disadvantages such as lack of control of future product development and release dates can be challenging. However, SunGard's vision of the Unified Digital Campus is visible in the PowerCAMPUS Portal product and in the improved ease of movement between applications. PowerCAMPUS is best suited for smaller institutions with limited staffing and with the willingness to steer clear of complex modifications. Though relatively small in the higher education market, PowerCAMPUS benefits from the formation earlier this year of SunGard Higher Education, which brought together all the SunGard higher education companies' resources into one organization. TechnologyOne TechnologyOne began providing financial software to the service-based industries in 1987, including universities and government in Australia. In the 1990s, it began to move into the university and TAFE (technical and further education) sector in Australia with student administration solutions. Their first student system went live in The company recently opened an office in the U.K., providing TechnologyOne with access to the U.K. higher education market, and we expect to see this company grow its higher education business in Europe during the next few years, while solidifying its position in Australasia. TechnologyOne's current Connected Intelligence platform is built on.net and around Oracle and SQL Server databases, as well as Unix, Linux and Windows operating systems. TechnologyOne's strengths include a strong financial suite and solid base in Australia, while its challenges include growing a global education client base. Australasia institutions looking for a complete suite should include TechnologyOne in their list of providers. RECOMMENDED READING "Magic Quadrants and MarketScopes: How Gartner Evaluates Vendors Within a Market" Evaluation Criteria Definitions Ability to Execute Product/Service: Core goods and services offered by the vendor that compete in/serve the defined market. This includes current product/service capabilities, quality, feature sets, skills and so on, whether offered natively or through OEM agreements/partnerships as defined in the market definition and detailed in the subcriteria. Publication Date: 26 September 2006/ID Number: G Page 10 of 12

11 Overall Viability (Business Unit, Financial, Strategy, Organization): Viability includes an assessment of the overall organization's financial health, the financial and practical success of the business unit, and the likelihood of the individual business unit to continue investing in the product, to continue offering the product and to advance the state of the art within the organization's portfolio of products. Sales Execution/Pricing: The vendor's capabilities in all pre-sales activities and the structure that supports them. This includes deal management, pricing and negotiation, pre-sales support and the overall effectiveness of the sales channel. Market Responsiveness and Track Record: Ability to respond, change direction, be flexible and achieve competitive success as opportunities develop, competitors act, customer needs evolve and market dynamics change. This criterion also considers the vendor's history of responsiveness. Marketing Execution: The clarity, quality, creativity and efficacy of programs designed to deliver the organization's message in order to influence the market, promote the brand and business, increase awareness of the products, and establish a positive identification with the product/brand and organization in the minds of buyers. This "mind share" can be driven by a combination of publicity, promotional, thought leadership, word-of-mouth and sales activities. Customer Experience: Relationships, products and services/programs that enable clients to be successful with the products evaluated. Specifically, this includes the ways customers receive technical support or account support. This can also include ancillary tools, customer support programs (and the quality thereof), availability of user groups, service-level agreements and so on. Operations: The ability of the organization to meet its goals and commitments. Factors include the quality of the organizational structure, such as skills, experiences, programs, systems, and other vehicles that enable the organization to operate effectively and efficiently on an ongoing basis. Completeness of Vision Market Understanding: Ability of the vendor to understand buyers' wants and needs and to translate those into products and services. Vendors that show the highest degree of vision listen and understand buyers' wants and needs, and can shape or enhance those with their added vision. Marketing Strategy: A clear, differentiated set of messages consistently communicated throughout the organization and externalized through the Web site, advertising, customer programs and positioning statements. Sales Strategy: The strategy for selling product that uses the appropriate network of direct and indirect sales, marketing, service and communication affiliates that extend the scope and depth of market reach, skills, expertise, technologies, services and the customer base. Offering (Product) Strategy: The vendor's approach to product development and delivery that emphasizes differentiation, functionality, methodology and feature set as they map to current and future requirements. Business Model: The soundness and logic of the vendor's underlying business proposition. Vertical/Industry Strategy: The vendor's strategy to direct resources, skills and offerings to meet the specific needs of individual market segments, including verticals. Publication Date: 26 September 2006/ID Number: G Page 11 of 12

12 Innovation: Direct, related, complementary and synergistic layouts of resources, expertise or capital for investment, consolidation, defensive or pre-emptive purposes. Geographic Strategy: The vendor's strategy to direct resources, skills and offerings to meet the specific needs of geographies outside the "home" or native geography, either directly or through partners, channels and subsidiaries as appropriate for that geography and market. REGIONAL HEADQUARTERS Corporate Headquarters 56 Top Gallant Road Stamford, CT U.S.A European Headquarters Tamesis The Glanty Egham Surrey, TW20 9AW UNITED KINGDOM Asia/Pacific Headquarters Gartner Australasia Pty. Ltd. Level 9, 141 Walker Street North Sydney New South Wales 2060 AUSTRALIA Japan Headquarters Gartner Japan Ltd. Aobadai Hills, 6F 7-7, Aobadai, 4-chome Meguro-ku, Tokyo JAPAN Latin America Headquarters Gartner do Brazil Av. das Nações Unidas, andar World Trade Center São Paulo SP BRAZIL Publication Date: 26 September 2006/ID Number: G Page 12 of 12