Moving to the cloud sounds simple until the old systems stop talking to each other. Across Europe, many institutions are shifting from Ellucian Banner On-Prem to its SaaS version. And soon after the migration, the same question always arises, how to keep those quiet background integrations running?
One of the most common cases involves placement management systems such as InPlace, SONIA, or Practera. For years, institutions used local scripts and direct database connections to send placement data to these third-party tools. It worked well until the SaaS model made database access a thing of the past.
Those nightly scripts and manual CSV transfers could no longer run. The logic once stored deep inside Banner needed a new home in the cloud. At the same time, Ellucian’s broader goal for the European market was to create ready-to-use integrations that any institution could easily adopt without starting over.
This story shows how we helped bring that idea to life by transforming a legacy placement integration into a scalable, API-based solution built for the SaaS world.
Not the type of placement challenge your team is tackling right now?
Explore our portfolio of Ellucian projects or browse a wider collection of higher ed integrations designed for the SaaS era.
How placements worked in the on-prem world
Before building the new integration in Banner SaaS, we first looked at how placement data exchange had traditionally worked in the on-prem environment. Most institutions used custom scripts and stored procedures inside Banner to generate nightly CSV files with student, program, and placement details. These files were then transferred to external systems where they were imported to manage student placements.
It was a straightforward setup that relied on direct database access and local servers. Each term, administrators adjusted term codes or course lists, and the process continued to run automatically.
This model served institutions well for years, but it was tied entirely to the on-prem infrastructure. Once Banner moved to SaaS, this approach could no longer work, which made it essential to design a modern, reusable integration framework that Ellucian could offer to its SaaS customers.
Reimagining placements for the SaaS world
Once the legacy setup was mapped, our task was to rebuild the placement integration natively in Ellucian’s SaaS ecosystem. The goal was to create a reusable solution that any institution could use to connect Banner SaaS with platforms.
The new model is powered by Ellucian Data Connect, which now manages every stage of the workflow: extraction, transformation, validation, and delivery. Instead of stored procedures, the process runs through automated pipelines built with Ellucian’s native tools.
Data extraction happens through Ellucian Ethos. These endpoints securely deliver structured Banner SaaS data without any database access. Using change notifications (CN) from Ethos, the integration exports only updated records to keep synchronization efficient.
Data transformation and validation are handled inside Data Connect using JavaScript Transform fittings. The pipeline merges and filters data by term, applies validation rules, and sends invalid records to a dedicated error log stored in the cloud.
File generation and delivery use the File Writer fitting, which produces timestamped CSV files and stores them in an Amazon S3 bucket. Placement systems can then pull the data automatically or on schedule.
Automation and monitoring are built in. Pipelines run daily or per term, with logs and success reports generated after each run.
Outcomes
The result is a clean, secure, and scalable cloud-native integration that replaces on-prem scripts with Ellucian’s own SaaS tools while preserving the same reliable data flow institutions already know.
It delivers automated placement data exchange with full visibility, version control, and auditability through Data Connect and Ethos. The design is reusable and easily configurable, enabling Ellucian to offer it as a ready-to-deploy integration for institutions across Europe transitioning to Banner SaaS.
Curious to see more stories like this one?
Check out our higher ed case studies and discover how we help institutions modernize data integrations across their campuses.
Building SaaS-ready integrations with ABCloudz
Ellucian trusts ABCloudz to design and deliver integrations that shape the future of its SaaS ecosystem. This project is just one example of the many initiatives we support to help Ellucian and its customers accelerate SaaS adoption across higher education.
With years of experience inside Ellucian’s ecosystem, we know how to rebuild complex on-prem processes into secure, repeatable, and fully SaaS-aligned solutions. If your organization is planning its next move toward SaaS, let’s talk about how we can help you build integrations that are cloud-ready and future-proof.
