University-corporate partnerships can offer higher education institu- tions many benefits, including ex- posure to new revenue channels, networking relationships with cor- porate partners, and continuing educational programming for pro- fessionals. However, before engag- ing in a corporate strategy, there are several technical considerations (and decisions) to evaluate.

1. SPECIAL FEATURE: CORPORATE TRAINING
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2012
Think it Through: Technical Considerations
of Corporate Partnerships
By Rob Kingyens
Chief Technology Officer,
eCornell
University-corporate partnerships
can offer higher education institu-
tions many benefits, including ex-
posure to new revenue channels,
networking relationships with cor-
porate partners, and continuing
educational programming for pro-
fessionals. However, before engag-
ing in a corporate strategy, there
are several technical considerations
(and decisions) to evaluate.
Businesses tend to rely pretty heav-
ily on data to drive business deci-
sions. When a company sponsors
training and development, they PHOTO BY ALPHASPIRIT
want assurance that their learning By getting out into their local community, higher education institutions can
programs lead to measurable per- keep themselves in mind as a long-term or short-term training solution for
formance outcomes. To this end,
universities should evaluate their corporations who are looking for learning partners.
data-sharing strategy for corporate
partnerships. employer-based systems Build Your University-Corporate
• Expedites enrollment and pay- Strategy
Here are a few reasons why data ment processing
sharing is mutually beneficial for Prior to the late nineties, many
both the university and corporate Once you have determined the rea- university-corporate partnerships
partner: sons for sharing data with your cor- were relatively simple, from a tech-
porate partners, there are several nology perspective. In a typical
• Aligns university-provided technical questions you now need relationship, a corporate student
courses and content with company- to ask; including: would enroll and attend an on-cam-
defined competencies for individu- pus program, and upon successful
al employees • What are the technical consid- completion, the institution would
• Improves visibility about ag- erations and risks associated with issue a credential to the student
gregate outcomes from company- data sharing? How can they be and provide a transcript back to the
sponsored programs with an insti- avoided? corporate partner to go in to their
tution • What kinds of data should be HR file. In some instances, the insti-
• Simplifies the user experience shared and how should it be pro- tution would tailor curricula specifi-
for employees by integrating (aka tected? cally for corporate partners to meet
“federating”) university learning • Should third-party system inte- CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE
system logins and passwords with gration be considered?
Article originally posted on The EvoLLLution at http://www.evolllution.com/corporate_partnerships_training/
think-it-through-technical-considerations-of-corporate-partnerships/

2. Think it Through: Technical Considerations of
Corporate Partnerships
CONTINUED FROM LAST PAGE
corporations to administer, track, cal areas that universities should
organization-learning goals. From a report and deliver online education evaluate before launching their cor-
technical perspective, this was still courses or training programs—de- porate strategy:
a very simple, analog transaction. veloped both internally and exter-
nally. Course Delivery
Move forward to today, the techni-
cal landscape in both the university Much like SIS’ and ERPs, these sys- How you intend to deliver your pro-
and corporate learning environ- tems perform similar functions. grams to corporate partners can
ments are vastly different—and However, they also serve different greatly impact the technical factors
technically complex. organizational needs. your institution must consider. Will
you offer Classroom, Online and/
For example, let’s compare two Bridging the Data Divide or Blended? Depending upon your
complimentary systems imple- approach, consider some of the fol-
mented in most higher and corpo- As shown in the above examples, lowing questions:
rate education environments today: most universities and corporations
have implemented systems to man- A. Classroom:
Example 1: Information age data and learning within their • Can corporate partners batch
Management Systems respective environments. So, it enroll students?
• Higher Ed: Most institutions should be easy to share data be- • Will partners receive comple-
have implemented Student Infor- tween these two environments, tion data? What formats?
mation Systems (SIS) such as Des- right? Well, not exactly.
tinyOne to manage student data B. Online:
across the institution. Many of these systems share tech- • Can corporate partners auto-
• Corporate: Most organizations nical standards intended for in- matically enroll students?
have implemented similar Enter- teroperability and sharing of data • How will students access your
prise Resource Planning (ERP) sys- across systems (e.g. single sign-on, online system?
tems such as SAP or Oracle to man- encryption, API, etc). However, • How will learning data be
age data across the organization, many are not designed to seam- shared? What methods and for-
typically including learning and HR lessly bridge the university-corpo- mats?
data for employees. rate divide out-of-the-box.
C. Blended (Classroom and Online).
It’s important for each
Although these systems are similar • Will a blended approach offer
institution to carefully weigh
in function, they serve different or- consistency for classroom and on-
ganizational needs. its university-corporate line?
objectives against its mission,
Example 2: Course Management technical infrastructure and Student Information
and Delivery Systems resources.
• Higher Ed: Most institutions Assuming student data needs to be
have now implemented Course Every institution and technical envi- shared between university-corpo-
Management Systems (CMS) such ronment is unique, and there is no rate systems, what information is
as Blackboard, Moodle or Canvas single, correct strategy. Therefore, commonly shared/desired by cor-
that allow schools to augment and it’s important for each institution porate partners? What common
flip traditional classroom learning, to carefully weigh its university-cor- data fields and formats?
providing an option for institutions porate objectives against its mis-
to develop and deliver online dis- sion, technical infrastructure and Which information and just how
tance learning courses. resources. much of it should be considered
• Corporate: Similarly, the ma- carefully when sharing with a part-
jority of corporate organizations Although there are many factors to ner system. Here are some common
have implemented Learning Man- consider, the following represent data elements shared with partner
agement Systems (LMS) that allow some of the most common techni- CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE
Article originally posted on The EvoLLLution at http://www.evolllution.com/corporate_partnerships_training/
think-it-through-technical-considerations-of-corporate-partnerships/

3. Think it Through: Technical Considerations of
Corporate Partnerships
CONTINUED FROM LAST PAGE
Third-party Integration such as Yammer or Chatter that al-
organizations: low coworkers to follow each other
Many institutions and corporate or- and share updates, including learn-
• Enrollment and payment pro- ganization maintain various third- ing achievements.
cessing party systems that relate to em-
• Basic student profile informa- ployee learning. Industry Certifications. Many in-
tion dustries have developed their own
• Registration information For example, consider some of the set of recognized learning creden-
• Assignment and course comple- following third-party integrations: tials such as the Project Manage-
tion information ment Institute (PMI) or Society for
• Attendance and basic transac- Human Capital Management. Human Resource Management
tional activity Many corporate organizations have (SHRM) that allow institutions to
implemented Human Resource map their outcomes to core certifi-
Although this information is typi- Management (HRMS) and Hu- cation requirements.
cal, corporate partners are becom- man Capitol Management (HCM)
ing more accustomed to having systems such as Workday or Suc- Is Human Capital Management
analytics, interactive reports and cessFactors to manage employees, important to your core corporate
behavioral/social data (student including the mapping of learning prospects? Do your programs align
to student, student to instructor) outcomes to career advancement, to industry-specific certifications or
available for reporting or data anal- competencies, and rewards. competencies to provide additional
ysis. Therefore, institutions need to value to corporate partners? Is so-
carefully evaluate the data they are Enterprise Social Networks. With cial networking important to your
willing and able to share with cor- the advent of consumer social net- prospects?
porate partners, while considering works such as Facebook and Twit-
future data requirements. ter, many organizations have imple- Depending upon your overall uni-
mented Enterprise Social Networks versity-corporate strategy and pro-
spective partners, your institution
may want to consider integration
with other third-party systems.
Authentication
Whether your institution decides to
offer programs via classroom or on-
line, most of your corporate part-
ners will want to either send and/
or receive data from your systems,
such as single sign-on for online
students, automatic enrollment,
student results, etc. Therefore, to
do this in a secure (and compliant)
manner, you’ll need to determine
the authentication methods you
will offer to your corporate part-
ners.
PHOTO BY ALPHASPIRIT If you plan to offer online delivery,
most organizations (like yours) want
When sharing data between a higher education institution and a corporation, to avoid employees maintaining
it is important to determine and define accountability. CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE
Article originally posted on The EvoLLLution at http://www.evolllution.com/corporate_partnerships_training/
think-it-through-technical-considerations-of-corporate-partnerships/

4. Think it Through: Technical Considerations of
Corporate Partnerships
CONTINUED FROM LAST PAGE education specific security regula-
separate usernames and passwords tions such as PCI or HIPAA? Well, if
for various systems. To solve this, you are accepting payments (e.g.
most organizations use single sign- PCI) and sharing data with corpo-
on to seamlessly log users into in- rate partners (e.g. SOX), they are
ternal and third-party systems. This responsible for maintaining compli-
can also be used for non-human in- ance with all information and data
teraction with systems, where one systems.
application talks with another to
share data. No two information security poli-
cies look alike, and chances are
Everyone does not use the same one or both parties will have to
authentication methods. However, compromise on one issue or an-
there are several authentication other. Depending on the nature of
protocols (aka “federated authen- the relationship, accountability is
tication”) that allow organizations one of the most important issues
to authenticate with each other to consider. Defining accountabil-
across the web, such as CAS, ADFS, ity will determine who is ultimately
and Crowd. If you’re just getting responsible for data loss, breach or AUTHOR PROFILE
started, there are also cloud-based other failure due to software or sys- Current Position and Past Experience
“identity” providers to consider, tem vulnerability.
such as PingIdentity and Okta that Since 2011, Rob Kingyens has been the
Chief Technology Officer at eCornell, a
strive to make these interactions Therefore, it’s important for your wholly-owned subsidiary of Cornell Uni-
easier. institution to perform a risk analy- versity. Prior to this, Kingyens served as
sis of the integration point(s) you’re the Chief Technology Officer and Chief
Data Security and Privacy considering sharing with your cor- Operating Officer at Bancroft Technol-
porate partners, so that both par- ogy Group, where he continues to serve
on the board.
What are the security, personal ties are fully aware of their security
identification and privacy issues requirements and shared responsi- In addition to speaking engagements
that need to be considered in a uni- bility. and being cited in industry publications
versity-corporate partnership? Se- on the effective application of learning
curity is one of the most important Every institution and working envi- technologies, Kingyens has served in
various management and executive level
and overlooked areas surrounding ronment is unique. There are myri- roles where he had led the analysis, de-
integration between systems and ad technical considerations and few sign, development and implementation
organizations. And, as a result of easy solutions when working with of learning and technology initiatives for
serious data breaches over the past corporate partners. global Fortune 1000, government and
decade, there are now several in- non-profit organizations. These have
included Microsoft, United Technolo-
formation security regulations that So it’s important that you carefully gies, General Electric, National Security
require it, including: evaluate your overall strategy, re- Agency, Discovery, Red Cross, U.S. Green
sources, and systems to determine Building Council, Boston Consulting
• Family Educational Rights and what’s best for both university and Group, IBM and McDonald’s.
Privacy Act (FERPA) corporate partners.
Education, Honors and Achievements
• Payment Card Industry Data Se-
curity Standard (PCIDSS) Corporate partnerships can be fruit- Kingyens was named a Top 100 Producer
• Health Insurance Portability and ful and bring about huge beneficial by the Multimedia Producer Magazine,
Accountability Act (HIPAA) change. But institutions need to and was part of the team that won an
• Sarbanes–Oxley Act (SOX) weigh their ability and understand Adobe/Macromedia’s People’s Choice
very clearly their capacity to meet Award.
Your first reaction might be; why do the technical needs/requirements
we need to be concerned with non- of the corporate environment.
Article originally posted on The EvoLLLution at http://www.evolllution.com/corporate_partnerships_training/
think-it-through-technical-considerations-of-corporate-partnerships/