ITS will begin to roll-out a new management system in July for Northlink College for Further Education and Training in the Western Cape. During discussions with Northlink over the last three years, ITS gained valuable insight into this market sector and found that its software needs are in fact similar to those of its current client base.
Northlink is one of the largest merged FET colleges in SA, being an amalgamation of four technical colleges. It now operates on eight campuses in the northern suburbs of Cape Town, with an annual enrolment in excess of 15 000 students.
The ITS system ideally supports Northlink`s decentralised campus structure and online integrated management information on the college as a whole can be provided in real-time mode, which facilitates consistent management reporting. Statutory information, including the management of student marks in conjunction with the Department of Education, is also provided.
The software will be deployed on a central server, with each campus linked to the server.
Data will be managed at campus level, while the system architecture will allow for reporting at campus and college level. The wide range of system modules from ITS, including functionality to support the management of students, student billing, finances, human resources, payroll and library services, will provide Northlink with a reliable, integrated solution, utilising an industry standard database to support the administrative processes of the college.
Leon Beech, CEO of Northlink College, said it had investigated several possible administrative systems but that ITS satisfies two important requirements for the college. Firstly, the ITS system accommodates every aspect of the college environment without the need to invest in separate software packages and secondly, ITS is a South African company, which fully understands local education administration requirements and complements Northlink`s "Proudly South African" status.
ITS has introduced annual licensing as an additional option in this market sector, which will allow colleges to utilise the system without an up-front capital investment. Modular pricing will also assist institutions to implement core systems in the initial phase and then add new system modules as and when they are required.
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