Anyone who has worked with Ellucian Banner at scale knows a familiar moment in every SaaS migration project. As soon as an institution prepares to move its student system into the cloud, any custom on-prem logic that relied on direct database access must be redesigned for a world that runs entirely through APIs and Ellucian’s native integration tools. This includes internal automations that institutions originally built themselves using SQL scripts inside the Banner database.
One institution in the United Kingdom approached us with precisely this type of challenge. Their on-prem Banner environment relied on a sophisticated automation that updated student and degree records during graduation close out. The process handled multiple academic scenarios, created and closed program records, calculated future term codes, and ensured that graduation outcomes were always synchronized with precision. It worked consistently for years in the on-prem environment, but every step depended on SQL-driven operations that do not exist in Ellucian SaaS.
From the outset, the task was well defined. Our team needed to analyze the existing logic, uncover the user stories embedded in the legacy scripts, and reconstruct this custom graduation workflow using Ellucian’s cloud-native tools. The new automation had to preserve the institution’s academic rules exactly as before while operating entirely through Data Connect pipelines and Ethos-based communication with Banner SaaS.
In this post we share how we rebuilt this graduation process for the institution, transforming a complex on-prem automation into a modern, transparent, and fully SaaS aligned workflow.
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Life inside the on-prem workflow
In the on-prem environment, the institution relied on a graduation close out process that updated student and program information directly in Banner’s database. The automation followed a sequence of academic rules that determined when a student finished a program, how their status should change, and which term they should roll into next. When you look at the current state diagram, keep in mind that the arrows illustrate where the scripts read information from rather than any literal movement of data. Each arrow simply shows that one table serves as the source of values used to calculate updates in another.
Each run of the process evaluated the student’s graduation outcome, closed the current record, created a new one for the following term when required, and adjusted their program and study path details. All of this was powered by SQL scripts that interacted with Banner’s internal tables behind the scenes.
This setup worked well because the scripts had full access to the database. Every update happened in one place with no intermediaries. The logic was tightly connected, predictable, and executed as a single flow from start to finish.
Rebuilding the on-prem workflow for Ellucian SaaS
Once the institution began its move to Banner SaaS, the real work started. The graduation close out process had to be rebuilt from the ground up using Ellucian’s cloud native toolset. The challenge was not in inventing new rules but in translating the existing academic logic into a SaaS friendly model that behaves exactly like the trusted on-prem version. Every condition, every term lookup, every sequence of updates had to remain intact, only now without direct access to the underlying tables.
Our first step was a full discovery phase. We unpacked the legacy SQL scripts, mapped how each academic scenario flowed through the old automation, and identified the functional user stories hidden inside the procedural code. Instead of rewriting the logic blindly, we recreated its intent. This meant translating database operations into structured Data Connect steps, where each stage of the workflow is visible, traceable, and executed through supported SaaS mechanisms.
Data Connect became the new engine of the process. It retrieves the relevant student and program data through Ethos, applies the graduation rules, and prepares the next set of updates as API ready payloads. What used to be a tightly coupled series of SQL operations is now a clear sequence of extraction, transformation, and update tasks that run in the cloud.
We preserved every path the on-prem process handled. If a program needed to be closed, Data Connect replicated that logic. If a new record had to be created for the next valid term, the pipeline determined that term using the same academic rules as before. If a student’s study path needed to shift, the workflow calculated the appropriate sequence, validated the results, and submitted the updates back into Banner SaaS through Ethos APIs.
Outcome
The result is a future state architecture where the entire graduation close out process runs through supported tools. No direct database access. No hidden logic. Everything is transparent, repeatable, and aligned with Ellucian’s long term direction for Banner SaaS.
What the institution gained goes beyond reimplementing an old workflow. The logic that once lived inside opaque SQL scripts is now expressed as a clear, reviewable sequence that any team member can understand. The process no longer depends on niche expertise or knowledge of individual tables. Instead, it is documented, observable, and built to survive staff turnover and future platform changes.
In short, the institution didn’t just migrate its automation into SaaS. It turned a critical academic process into a sustainable asset that can be owned, understood, and evolved for years to come.
Want to see how other institutions modernize their academic processes?
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This project shows how custom on-prem automations can be reimagined for the cloud without losing the academic intent behind them. Data Connect and Ethos provide the structure for that transition, and our team brings the experience needed to express legacy SQL logic as clear, maintainable SaaS native workflows. If your institution is preparing for a Banner SaaS migration or considering how to modernize internal processes, we can help turn long standing scripts into reliable, future ready automations. Let’s talk about how to give your essential workflows the clarity and longevity they deserve.