Datatel To Integrate ERP with Moodle
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 03/26/10
Datatel has begun testing a new integrated offering among its institutional customers that combines its enterprise resource planning (ERP) system with a learning management system (LMS). The company said six clients have started beta testing its Intelligent Learning Platform (ILP), which includes its ERP system, Colleague, along with Moodle, a popular open source LMS. Datatel is working with Moodle service provider Moodlerooms on the project.
The integration provides a way to give faculty and students a single sign-on entry point via Datatel's Web portal application, Portal, to access multiple institutional resources. Users can start up conversations with others in team sites, e-mail, and blogs. They can also move among the three applications--Portal, Moodle, and Colleague. The new platform includes student retention-oriented features to help administrators identify at-risk students, to track student progress within personal action plans, and to perform analysis of the performance of specific groups of students.
Among the beta testers is Marietta College. "It could not have occurred at a more opportune time. Our plans were to migrate from WebCT to Moodle during the summer of 2010. We were exploring whether to host Moodle on-site or to go with a hosting company such as Moodlerooms," said John Davis, CIO at the college, which is based in Ohio. "With the announcement of the partnership between Datatel and Moodlerooms, it became obvious that Datatel's Intelligent Learning Platform was going to bring a rich mixture of tools to enhance Moodle for our campus."
Other beta testers include: Forsyth Technical Community College in Winston-Salem, NC; Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore; Roanoke College in Salem, VA; Simpson College in Indianola, IA; and Vermont State Colleges, based in Waterbury.
The news arrives on the heels of a recent announcement by Datatel and CompuSoft Development that the two companies are jointly developing a new financial reporting application. Synoptix for Datatel is scheduled to be released during the second quarter of 2010. The program leverages Colleague's General Ledger to present fiscal information in a spreadsheet format that allows users to drill down on specifics within the reports.
"Synoptix for Datatel will complement Datatel's overall reporting strategy as a unique solution to the challenges faced by financial offices at colleges and universities," said Christopher Sheppard, Datatel's director of partner and external relations. "Along with Datatel Colleague, this application will help those in charge of their institution's fiscal health to get an instant insight of where they stand and then to make data-supported ... decisions."
About the Author
Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.