Blog
May 29, 2024
Education Summit 2024 – Insights and Reflections from Attain Partners
The Attain Partners team gathered in sunny San Diego, CA, for the higher education event of the year for professionals using Salesforce, Education Summit. The three-day Summit was packed full of insightful sessions, diverse voices, and unique perspectives all united by a common goal: To improve education experiences for the next generation. Attain Partners had the privilege of being a Groundbreaker Sponsor of Education Summit 2024, presenting in three sessions and hosting a meet-and-mingle with other education leaders.
From the importance of agile planning and teamwork to the transformative power of Education Cloud and OmniStudio, and the potential of AI and automation, Education Summit elucidated the innovative strides being made in the higher education community. Read on to hear more from our team about their key takeaways.
Right Plan + Right Team = Agile Adoption and Growth
A recurring theme throughout the Summit was the importance of proper planning, project management, and teamwork in enabling the successful implementation of Education Cloud, Data Cloud, and other Salesforce products. Sessions explored strategies for effective project execution, emphasizing the need for agility and pivotability when necessary as Attain Partners did with Fordham University last year. Thoughtful planning paired with the right team and implementation partner is foundational for seamless transitions and optimal outcomes when adopting or improving any education system.
“One of my favorite sessions was Pivot! From Inboxes to Education Cloud and Beyond. It focused on being agile and knowing when to step back and think through the best course of action for your project. Being able to ‘pivot’ and take a new approach enables us to create the best experience for the students,” said Jessica Simonetti, Senior Consultant at Attain Partners.
Transformations with Education Cloud and OmniStudio
This Summit marked a year since the launch of Salesforce Education Cloud. It was inspiring to see all the improvements institutions have made for students, staff, surrounding communities, and institution operations.
Institution-wide approaches to holistic student support were showcased in many sessions, including Creating Personalized Journeys at Marshall University: Achieving Incremental Transformation with Education Cloud. Delivered by Marshall University’s Cody Hall and Attain Partners’ Doug Barrow, this session demonstrated how Marshall University is revolutionizing the student experience, reducing administrative burden, and fostering a harmonious digital ecosystem while driving measurable and sustainable growth.
Seeing the finished MyMU portal for the first time, Simonetti said, “Their portal really showcased the power behind OmniStudio and how it can be used to create a customized portal for students with all the data they need.”
Marshall University is a testament to the power of Education Cloud and OmniStudio. Attain Partners looks forward to continuing to support Marshall University’s digital transformation as we work together to develop a new IT Service Management Portal; leverage Einstein GPT and CoPilot AI for student self-service; and improve alumni, donor, faculty, and staff support to continue Marshall University’s digital transformation.
OmniStudio: The Next Big Thing
The ability to integrate data from multiple systems into a community or internal page is going to be a big win for Salesforce and its users. “OmniStudio looks to be the next big thing with its ability to easily build components to view data from external systems within an Experience Site or Internal Salesforce page,” shared Christopher Wray, Senior Specialist at Attain Partners.
Integrated with Education Cloud, OmniStudio enables institutions to create, customize, and manage unique student experiences. Attendees showed great interest in discovering how this product is driving innovation in Education Cloud. If you’d like to learn more about OmniStudio and Education Cloud, contact us.
Automation and AI’s Impact on Higher Education
According to Salesforce, 75% of higher education leaders are investing in AI to improve student outcomes. But AI is no longer just a buzzword—it’s an actionable tool being used alongside other automation tools like MuleSoft.
Building a Data Framework for Enterprise-wide Implementation, shared valuable insights into evolving best practices, knowledge to lay the groundwork for a successful implementation, and actionable insights from real-world data migration and integration success stories. Jason Hunter, Senior Principal and Data Services Lead at Attain Partners and former CIO of the University of Colorado, shared his firsthand experiences with major migrations from Ellucian Advance to Salesforce.
Attain Partners’ Ilya Pinchuk joined Hunter to teach attendees about proven migration and integration tactics and actionable insights for meaningful change with MuleSoft.
“It was a privilege to share the stage and present the data migration and integration design patterns we’ve been implementing at Attain Partners with MuleSoft and Kindsight (formerly UC Innovation) ascend package and Salesforce Ed and Data Cloud,” Pinchuk shared.
“We like to joke that data is our jam and we have fun, so my favorite part of our presentation was a mid-talk swap from stuffy suites to something a bit more fitting for innovation engineers.”
Over the past several years, we’ve seen clients create their own data warehouses, so it’s exciting to see Salesforce work on this aspect and bring in additional features, like MuleSoft and AI/Einstein, to the Data Cloud and Education Cloud solutions. Salesforce provided demonstrations for effectively using AI for Education Cloud, which has the unique ability to help different stakeholders perform their jobs. The potential amount of time saved would be incredibly beneficial to the workforce as they work to meet the needs of their students, faculty, and staff. It will be exciting to see this product mature as it is put through its paces!
Christopher Wray
Senior Specialist, Attain Partners
Strength, Innovation, and Commitment in the Trailblazer Community
Last, but certainly not least, the Trailblazer Community blew us away yet again with its tenacity, vibrancy, and drive. During these few days in San Diego, we had the opportunity to step away from our own implementations and gather with like-minded innovators who are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible to drive change for their constituents. There was no shortage of learning or networking as long-time colleagues and new architects met to swap stories, share tricks of the trade, and inspire one another. The Summit was more than just a gathering of industry professionals—it was a convergence of passion, expertise, and commitment to driving positive change in education.
Perhaps the best way to sum up Education Summit 2024 is a quote by keynote speaker, Andre Agassi.
“This is the only perfection there is: the perfection of helping others. This is the only thing we can do that has any lasting meaning.”
These words continue to ring true as we return to our work invigorated to build innovative solutions to improve the lives of students, staff, faculty, and communities across the country with Salesforce. We’re ready to create lasting change for others—are you?
Attain Partners – Salesforce Experts
Regardless of where your organization is in its Salesforce journey (or if it’s yet to start!), Attain Partners is here to help you achieve your goals and serve your community. Contact our team today to learn how we can help your organization advance its mission by harnessing the power of Salesforce.
To learn more, check out our Salesforce Innovation services, read case studies about our transformative work, and explore blog posts from our Salesforce experts.
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