Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google


Westmont College Taps Cast Iron Cloud for Application Integration

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 02/18/10

Westmont College in Santa Barbara, CA has gone public with its use of cloud computing for application integration. The college is using a cloud integration platform from Cast Iron Systems to secure two-way exchange of real-time information between SalesForce CRM, Westmont's on-demand constituent relationship management application, and its Datatel enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, which runs on the college's private network. The Cast Iron service provides a pre-configured template for achieving the integration between the two data sets.

"Cast Iron lets us harness both cloud and network applications very quickly and provide dynamic interaction with accurate, real-time data," said Reed Sheard, CIO. "We thought about in-house coding, but development and revisions would take far too long. Cast Iron lets us pick and choose which applications and data sources we want to integrate in a very granular way according to our business rules and objectives. The speed and flexibility of the Cast Iron solution give us a tremendous creative advantage."

Future projects, according to the IT organization, may include an internal cloud-based student information system, which would provide confidential personal data, class schedules, and class lists that would be connected to the institution's Moodle system. Students and faculty would be able to access the information on their iPhones and in the Google and Amazon clouds.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • Hootsuite

    Beyond the Feed: How Higher Ed Turns Social Media Into a Measurable Enrollment Engine

    More than half of prospective students research programs on social media before visiting a university website, and nearly half will skip applying to a school that looks inactive online. Hootsuite, the all-in-one social OS platform trusted by more than 2,000 higher education institutions, helps campus teams turn everyday posts into measurable outcomes, from applications to alumni giving.

  • closeup of hands using smart phone

    Learning Continuity Built into the LMS Withstands Cloud or Cybersecurity Interruptions

    When your institution's administrative or instructional capabilities face disruption from natural, technical, or malicious events, what measures does your LMS offer to provide a "business as usual" operating and learning environment? Instructure's Ryan Lufkin comments on the LMS and learning continuity.

  • glowing human profile icons in grid formation

    Cisco Introduces Privileged Infrastructure Access for People and AI Agents

    Cisco has unveiled Privileged Infrastructure Access, an approach to infrastructure administration that gives people and artificial intelligence agents temporary, task-specific permissions instead of leaving standing privileges available after their work is done.

  • broken digital lock and glowing chain

    Cybersecurity Researchers: AI Has Crossed into the Live Attack Chain

    AI is moving beyond assisting cybercriminals and beginning to operate within live attacks, according to a new report from Check Point Research. The technology is making sophisticated capabilities faster and more accessible while creating new security risks for businesses deploying their own AI systems.