Across higher education, colleges moving from on-prem Ellucian Colleague to SaaS are discovering that modernization comes with a few unexpected twists. The platform itself works beautifully, but some long trusted integrations need a fresh start. Many of them once depended on direct database access that simply is not part of the cloud world anymore.
One of the most common cases involves Rave Alert, a platform used to keep campuses informed and safe during emergencies. After the move to SaaS, the familiar data exchange between Colleague and Rave Alert suddenly breaks, leaving IT teams searching for a new way to keep their contact lists accurate and their alerts instant.
To make this transition easier for all institutions facing the same challenge, Ellucian partnered with our team at ABCloudz to rebuild the integration from the ground up. Ellucian had already relied on us to deliver reusable SaaS integrations for T2 Parking, Maxient, and Ex Libris Alma, and we applied that proven expertise to create a new reusable integration for Rave Alert.
In this blog post, we share how we designed and built this flexible model using Ellucian’s native tools, Data Connect and Ethos, ensuring it can be easily reused by other institutions moving to Ellucian SaaS.
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Explore our Ellucian project collection or visit our broader Higher Education portfolio to see how we help institutions modernize their systems across every department.
What the original integration looked like
Back in the on-premises days, the connection between Ellucian Colleague and Rave Alert was simple and sturdy. Each night, scripts pulled student and staff data straight from the Colleague database, turned it into CSV files, and sent them to Rave Alert over Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP).
It was the kind of quiet system no one noticed until it stopped working. Everything depended on direct database access and local servers. When the institution moved to Colleague SaaS, both disappeared. The familiar SQL queries and nightly jobs had nowhere to run, and Rave Alert lost its data feed. Without fresh contact data, Rave Alert could not send timely alerts, and every minute of delay mattered.
Designing a reusable integration for Ellucian SaaS
When the goal is not just to fix something but to make it future-proof, you have to start from scratch with a different mindset. That was exactly our approach when rebuilding the Colleague-to-Rave Alert integration for the SaaS world.
Instead of trying to replicate the old on-prem setup, we designed a modular and reusable architecture that could serve any institution using Ellucian Colleague SaaS. The new version runs entirely inside the Ellucian ecosystem and follows SaaS best practices for data access, security, and automation.
At the heart of the solution are Ellucian Data Connect and Ethos APIs. Data Connect now acts as the automation engine that extracts, transforms, and delivers data directly to Rave Alert through secure and authenticated API connections. Ethos provides consistent access to student, employee, and institutional data without touching the database itself.
To keep things organized and scalable, we created two independent Data Connect pipelines:
- Student and Staff Extract – exports demographic and contact information for all active students and employees who should receive alerts.
- Group Extract – generates the mapping between users and Rave Alert groups, ensuring messages reach the right audiences based on their role and location.
Both pipelines can be configured through simple parameters. Institutions can choose between Amazon S3 or SFTP delivery, adjust refresh frequency, and apply custom filters without changing the underlying logic. Everything is designed for flexibility, security, and easy reuse.
Results that reach beyond one campus
The new Rave Alert integration now operates entirely within Ellucian’s SaaS ecosystem. Contact lists stay accurate, group memberships update automatically, and alerts reach every student and staff member exactly when they should.
We designed the integration as a reusable framework. Any institution running Ellucian SaaS can now use it to connect with Rave Alert quickly and securely without rebuilding the logic from scratch.
Built once, ready for everyone.
Interested in how others modernize with Ellucian SaaS?
Visit our library of higher ed projects and see how we help colleges modernize their systems.
Build your next SaaS integration with ABCloudz
At ABCloudz, we help higher education institutions modernize their systems through Ellucian’s cloud native tools. Whether you are planning your first SaaS integration or looking to reimagine existing ones, our team can design scalable and secure solutions fully aligned with Ellucian’s SaaS architecture.
Let’s talk about how we can make your next integration project faster, simpler, and built to last.
