At ABCloudz, we partner with Ellucian to provide robust technical solutions to colleges and universities across the United States. Our recent collaboration involved a U.S. college utilizing Ellucian Colleague for student information management and T2 Systems for parking management. This client struggled with manual, cumbersome processes for exchanging critical student and employee data between these two systems. Ellucian engaged our team to create an automated, reusable integration solution leveraging Ellucian Data Connect.
In this post, we explain how we replaced the manual process with a fully automated integration between Ellucian Colleague and T2 Systems. You’ll see the project’s starting point, major milestones, and the new automated architecture. This case offers practical insight into how to modernize campus operations using Ellucian solutions.
If your college or university is considering automation or modernization of campus operations, this story will help you understand integration best practices, common pitfalls in manual workflows, and concrete steps for building secure, scalable data pipelines between critical systems.
Not your top priority right now? Take a look at our broader portfolio of higher ed projects or explore more of our Ellucian-based solutions.
The challenge of manual parking data management
Previously, staff repeatedly exported and formatted data from Colleague, then manually uploaded CSV files to T2 Systems. When violations occurred, T2 Systems produced new files, which staff then imported into Colleague. This process caused frequent errors, delays, and out-of-sync data.
Current state architecture before automation
The old workflow required direct staff action at every step:
- Staff run queries in Colleague to extract demographic and eligibility data for students and employees, then verify the results.
- Data is manually formatted into CSV files, with close attention to formatting.
- Staff use SFTP to upload CSVs to T2 Systems, managing credentials, selecting files, and confirming transfer.
- T2 Systems staff manually process incoming files and update records. Errors require further manual intervention.
- T2 Systems staff export new violations or holds as CSV files.
- Administrative staff manually import violations and holds into Colleague.
At each stage, staff had to monitor progress, troubleshoot, and fix issues. The lack of automation led to persistent errors, delays, and outdated data in both systems, highlighting the need for a better solution.
ABCloudz steps in to automate data integration
We approached the integration challenge step by step, focusing first on a deep assessment, then designing a solution architecture, and finally delivering a fully automated process tailored to the college’s environment.
Phase 1. Deep workflow assessment
We began by mapping every manual step in the existing workflow. Our team reviewed how staff extracted student and employee data, formatted CSV files, managed SFTP uploads, and resolved errors at each stage. We also interviewed key users to clarify pain points such as frequent data mismatches, delays, and time-consuming troubleshooting.
This analysis revealed exactly where automation would provide the most value and highlighted specific technical requirements: scheduled extractions, secure file delivery, automated imports, and robust monitoring.
Phase 2. Integration design and planning
With these requirements defined, we designed the end-to-end architecture for an automated data exchange. We selected Ellucian Data Connect as the core integration platform, paired with Ethos Integration for API connectivity. Our plan outlined:
- Automated daily extraction of demographic and eligibility data from Colleague,
- Programmatic formatting and secure transfer of files to T2 Systems,
- Automated import of violation and hold data back into Colleague,
- Centralized monitoring, error validation, and alerting.
We developed technical specifications for data mapping, file standards, and error handling, ensuring the design was fully reusable for other colleges using Ellucian products.
Phase 3. Pipeline implementation and automation
Our next step was building and configuring the automated pipelines according to the integration plan. We created dedicated Data Connect workflows for each data flow direction:
- Outbound pipeline: Automatically extracts, formats, and transfers student and employee data to T2 Systems on a daily schedule, removing manual file prep and upload.
- Inbound pipeline: Collects violation and hold files from T2 Systems, validates the content, and updates records in Colleague automatically.
Both pipelines include automated error checking, logging, and immediate notifications for any issues, which minimizes the need for staff oversight and makes every step auditable.
Phase 4. Testing, validation, and go-live
Before going live, we thoroughly tested each automated pipeline with real-world data scenarios. We validated the accuracy of every data transformation, ensured compliance with security standards, and confirmed that automated alerts functioned as designed. After addressing minor issues, we deployed the solution in production, with continuous monitoring in place for smooth ongoing operations.
Automated workflow after integration
TAutomated workflows now keep Colleague and T2 Systems in sync with timely, accurate data. Manual intervention is almost entirely eliminated.
Future state architecture
- Ellucian Data Connect automatically queries Colleague for the latest demographic and eligibility information for all students and employees.
- The extracted data is automatically formatted to meet T2 Systems’ requirements and exported as structured files.
- Data Connect securely transfers the prepared files to T2 Systems using Amazon S3 or SFTP. All file transfers are scheduled and managed by the integration, without staff involvement.
- T2 Systems automatically ingests the incoming data files, updating parking eligibility and related records in real time. Any data mismatches or errors trigger automated alerts and logging.
- When new parking violations or account holds are generated, T2 Systems automatically exports the relevant records as structured files, ready for import back into Colleague.
- Data Connect automatically retrieves violation and hold files from T2 Systems and imports them into Colleague. Student and employee records are updated programmatically, applying or clearing holds as needed.
Automated monitoring and error handling
The system continuously monitors, validates, and logs all data flows. Staff receive notifications only if issues arise, removing the need for constant manual oversight. .
Key benefits of the automated architecture:
- Fully eliminates manual file handling, formatting, and transfers.
- Significantly reduces risk of data errors, delays, and compliance issues.
- Provides real-time data synchronization, improving operational efficiency and accuracy.
- Automated error handling and notifications minimize administrative oversight.
- Complete visibility and auditability of all data transfers.
Curious about similar projects?
Check out our portfolio for more examples of how we partner with colleges and universities on Ellucian implementations and other tech solutions in higher ed.
Designed for reuse
We built the integration to be easily reused by any institution running Ellucian Colleague. All aspects of data exchange and automation are standardized, so new colleges can quickly adopt this solution with minimal risk.
Partner with ABCloudz for Ellucian integrations
Our team brings deep expertise in Ellucian technologies and advanced data integration for higher education. We have a proven track record of designing, building, and supporting secure, scalable solutions tailored to the needs of colleges and universities.
If your institution is looking to automate critical processes, modernize legacy integrations, or streamline campus operations, we are ready to help. Contact ABCloudz to discuss your integration goals and see how our experience can deliver results for your organization.
