Everything around the world is rapidly being transformed by technological advancement, and education is not an exception.
The digital experience was previously expected only from students, but now schools and universities are expected to offer it to students as well as staff.
That’s where Salesforce Education Cloud steps in. It’s designed to help educational institutions manage their operations, engage with students, and improve every aspect of the educational journey.
But what makes Salesforce Education Cloud the future of digital transformation in education?
Let’s break it down.
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What is Salesforce Education Cloud?
Interestingly, Salesforce education Cloud can best be described as a platform that links all those in a school or university system.
It provides institutions with a holistic view of each learner, where they can monitor communications; record; and monitor the learner’s progress.
From admissions through student services and even alumni relations, Education Cloud was built to simplify that process.
Prior to this latest version, Salesforce’s Education Cloud used something known as the Education Data Architecture (EDA).
While it worked, EDA was a bit rigid and required extra installations and updates to keep up with new features.
Now, it has evolved from EDA and is integrated right into Salesforce’s standard application rather than being an add-on product.
This means that as a user you get additional features that offer better compatibility with other tools, seamless upgrades, and near-instant access to new and improved versions.
How Does It Help Schools?
Let’s say you’re a university that’s juggling hundreds of student applications.
With the old system, you might have had to piece together different solutions for each step of the process collecting data from one system, processing it in another, and communicating with students through yet another tool. It’s a headache.
With Salesforce Education Cloud, all of that is streamlined. Using new tools schools can build out everything from application forms to personalized communication systems without needing a team of developers.
No-code or low-code tool, so you don’t have to be a technological wizard to come up with bespoke solutions.
As such, you can implement several-stage procedures such as application interfaces or student feedback forms that are smooth from a student’s perspective yet scalable to enhance from the administrator’s perspective.
This is a big deal. It means that you can implement the digital solutions that developers build as solutions for you and your business, and do not need to spend time and money hiring outside developers and deciphering code.
The good thing about change is that you don’t need a whole year or months to implement a new system; you can do it within weeks or even days.
What About Data Management?
Perhaps one of the most difficult tasks of school or university administrators is the management of student information.
Be it management of student files and class timetables, financial records, and budgets among many other areas including dealings with the alumni.
This is something that needs to be well assimilated by the different schools and that’s where the new Salesforce Education Cloud comes in with the native data model.
Before this update, schools had to rely on the Education Data Architecture (EDA) package, which added an extra layer of complexity.
EDA wasn’t always in sync with Salesforce’s regular updates, so things could get out of date or even break during upgrades.
Now, with the new native data model built directly into Salesforce’s core platform, managing data is a lot smoother. You get access to updates faster, and your data is easier to organize, update, and access.
One of the big changes here is that schools are now using personal accounts to represent students. In the past, EDA offered a few different ways to model students, which sometimes made things confusing.
For example, managing relationships—like those between students and parents or students and alumni—could get a bit messy with multiple options to choose from. Now, Salesforce has streamlined this process by standardizing Person Accounts.
So, what does this mean for schools?
It’s simpler. Schools can now manage student records more straightforwardly, and these records work seamlessly with all the other tools Salesforce offers.
You’re not juggling different data models or worrying about how your system will behave after updates. Everything just works better together, making data management a breeze.
In short, this shift to a native data model makes the lives of school administrators a lot easier.
Why is This A Game-Changer?
Salesforce Education Cloud isn’t just about making things faster or easier (though it does that); it’s about providing a more personalized experience for both students and staff.
For students, this means everything from admissions to graduation feels smoother and more connected.
They can access information easily, communicate with the school seamlessly, and get personalized attention when they need it.
For staff, especially administrators, Salesforce Education Cloud removes many of the roadblocks they typically face.
Instead of spending hours sifting through data, building new forms, or managing multiple systems, everything is in one place.
Automation features handle routine tasks, so staff can focus on more important things like improving student engagement or developing new programs.
And then there’s the role of AI and automation. Salesforce is increasingly embedding AI into its platforms, including Education Cloud.
With tools like Einstein Analytics, schools can now use AI to analyze student data, predict trends, and even help students before issues arise.
For instance, a university might notice a student struggling with grades early on and use Einstein’s predictive analytics to step in with extra support or resources before the situation worsens.
What’s Next?
Currently, the major strategic focus of Salesforce Education Cloud is on establishing effortless recruitment and admission solutions. But that’s just the beginning of what we’ve got to work with here.
Salesforce is eyeing other areas to sell its solutions further and is currently eyeing student success and student well-being solutions including the Salesforce student success hub for higher education.
This next step is going to allow institutions to help students even more with not only the education aspect but also the psychological, vocational, and all sorts of different opinions of well-being.
As for the other institutions, which are currently enjoying earlier versions of Education Cloud, they have nothing to worry about.
One important thing that has to be said is that Salesforce confirmed that the older managed packages will still be in operation, but now it will be interesting to consider all the new opportunities considered by the company.
Final Thoughts
Salesforce Education Cloud is doing exactly this in a world where education is moving to the digital space more every day.
Among them, one can recall such novelties as the transition to a native data model and the use of low-code tools which can be pioneers for schools willing to work more efficiently and offer students a better experience.
Education is going digital, and with Salesforce Education Cloud, institutions are more ready for the future than they have ever been.
