The private university leads by example and moves ahead of the curve by adopting every facet of digital transformation
JS SODHI
AMITY EDUCATION GROUP
Digital transformation projects require digital technology integration, workforce enablement on digital technology, thereby bringing digital culture among everyone and enhancing customer experience. Digital transformation is an organisation project. Hence, its adoption and massive changes responsibility falls on everyone in the organisation.
The world is becoming increasingly digital. Hence, digital transformation is imperative in the domain of education too. Digital technology has now integrated in education in such a way that it brings greater value for the students. Digital technology develops different thinking, encourages innovations among students and brings out new teaching models to enhance the learning experience.
Amity University, with over 125,000 students enrolled in various courses across its 1,000-acre campus, offers some of the best infrastructure facilities to its students. And with technology growing rapidly in the field of education, Amity University is not the one to be left behind. The University, therefore, has embarked on a massive digital transformation drive to be ahead of the times and lead by example.
“Online courses, digital education content, digital library, education ERP, smart classrooms, access control-based smart campus, managed and secured wi-fi that connect various Amity campuses on the hub-spoke model by managed MPLS are few digital projects which have been successfully implemented,” informs Dr. JS Sodhi, Vice President and CIO, Amity Education Group.
A vital element of digital transformation project is “latest technology”. It improves efficiency by replacing the legacy systems. The use of mobile devices, faster connectivity, access to massive data for analysis and future prediction pattern and increased operational efficiency are few direct benefits besides other indirect benefits like more aligned IT systems and resiliency in systems.
But such a transformation comes with its own set of challenges. Successful implementation of any digital transformation initiatives depends on collaboration and integration of a project among all stakeholders or departments.
Although IT plays a vital role in driving digital transformation strategy, digital projects are not the responsibility of the IT department alone. It is the journey of all departments together.
As the students and faculty in the education domain are quite adoptive to latest technologies, it is important to bring cultural change first for implementing any digital project. However, legacy infrastructure does create hindrance to successfully embark on digital transformation strategy. Generally, 70 per cent budget is spent on running the existing legacy IT infrastructure while the remaining is utilised on new projects and innovation. But if one needs the business to evolve with the rapid pace of digital change today, one must work to increase efficiency with the aid of technology and by adopting agile principles. For this, two parallel systems need to be introduced to begin with and to shift the load from legacy to digital to avoid any friction in the operational processes.
“Today, technology and processes are changing exponentially. Hence, we are working on the vision to remain the 'leader' in digital transformation in the education sector. We understand that digital transformation is a journey and it results in business that is more aligned with customer demands and resiliency in the fast-moving digital future world,” Sodhi shares.
He adds that with time, the role of CIO is also evolving. This means a CIO needs to be innovative in approach and ready to invest in various initiatives and business models. “Digital transformation is business change thus, people are vital. Digitalisation needs to be made relevant to every team, thus collaboration is the key as it brings new capabilities and speed. A CIO should not only change culture and reorganise business, he should merge legacy and digital systems. His role has to be that of a business leader to transform the culture in the organisation,” he opines.
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