Arizona State University (ASU) is one of the largest public universities in the US, recognized for its commitment to innovation and academic excellence. ASU entrusts Salesforce as a critical system to manage a wide range of operations, from student recruitment and services to alumni relations and institutional advancement. With its growing volume and reliance on Salesforce data, ASU required a robust data protection and management strategy.
For Frank Montoya, Senior Product Manager for Salesforce at ASU Enterprise Technology, ensuring the accessibility and security of this data is paramount. "Salesforce at ASU is our system of engagement," Montoya explains, highlighting its use in "recruitment, service, and tracking learner/constituent engagement."
At the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at ASU, Edward Garcia, Senior Director of IT, faces similar challenges with unique data requirements. Both Montoya and Garcia needed an effective solution.
Understanding ASU’s Salesforce data needs
From student recruitment and case management to tracking every interaction, Salesforce is at the heart of university operations. But it's not just the volume of data; it's also its value. "The amount of data and number of people touched are pretty staggering," notes Montoya. He stresses the need for data relevancy, especially as ASU advances its AI initiatives.
At the College of Law, Garcia faces similar issues with added complexity. "Being able to have all this data quickly available to us allows us to make informed decisions on our enrolled students," Garcia explains. For the law school, data accessibility is crucial for everything from admissions decisions to predicting student performance on the bar exam.
Compliance adds another layer to the data challenge. Garcia highlights the need to "archive a lot of our historical alumni data" to meet ABA accreditation requirements. This calls for a robust archiving solution that can retain and quickly retrieve records as alumni move between states and take the bar.
Trusting in Own
ASU implemented Own's backup, recovery, and archiving solutions for its Salesforce environment. “The tool is integrated with Salesforce, which gives us an opportunity to quickly configure, manage, maintain, and actually even make it available to our user base.", explains Montoya.
"It allows us to easily back up our data and restore our data within the web interface,” Garcia echoed. “It's really easy to use and it gives us that peace of mind day in and day out."
The university deployed Own Recover across multiple Salesforce orgs, ensuring consistent data protection practices throughout the institution. This multi-org strategy, as Montoya points out, supports accelerated innovation across ASU.
For Garcia, Own Archive became a crucial tool for meeting compliance requirements. "We've finally reached a point of that five-year retention window where we can start archiving some of that data, and make it easily available for those different teams, whether it's our alumni team or student services teams."
The implementation also included Own's Premier Support Plus, which Montoya says has helped them "get to a place where not only just one instance of Salesforce, but all instances of Salesforce, have a backup and a continuity plan."
Garcia also appreciates the ability to handle GDPR requests efficiently. "Those are things that kind of get left out of some of the demos, but I think it's some of the most important things, especially for us at ASU," he adds.
The implementation of Own's solutions provided ASU with a comprehensive approach to data management, addressing their needs for backup, recovery, compliance, and innovation support across their complex Salesforce ecosystem.
Reaping the rewards
Own's solutions have delivered significant advantages for ASU, addressing its complex data management needs across multiple Salesforce orgs.
Data protection and recovery: The implementation ensures reliable backups and easy recovery options, mitigating the risks of data loss. Montoya emphasizes, "It really is helping us in our Salesforce multi-org environment be consistent with continuity plans, consistent on how we archive data, and how we backup data."
Cost savings: Own's archiving capabilities help reduce storage costs. As Montoya points out, it gives ASU "an opportunity to not only remove that data, but also access the data when needed."
Compliance and data governance: The solution helps ASU comply with data retention policies and regulatory requirements, which is especially important for the law school: "As our alums move around to different states and take different bars, we have to be able to access that data to verify that they've actually graduated from the law school," said Garcia.
Data accessibility and insights: Own ensures data availability for informed decision-making. Garcia notes, "Being able to have all this data quickly available to us allows us to make informed decisions on our enrolled students."
Flexibility: The solution's ability to handle various data management tasks, from GDPR requests to data archiving, provides ASU with a flexible tool that adapts to their changing needs.
These benefits have positioned ASU to better leverage its Salesforce data for strategic initiatives while maintaining robust data protection and compliance practices.
Peace of mind meets performance with Own
Own's comprehensive suite of tools has effectively addressed ASU's complex data management needs across its multi-org Salesforce environment. The solution provides data security, reduces costs, streamlines compliance, and empowers data-driven decision-making, contributing to the university's overall innovation and success.
As ASU continues to grow and innovate, Own's solutions provide a solid foundation for their data management strategy. The flexibility and scalability of the tools ensure that ASU can adapt to changing needs and regulations while maintaining the highest standards of data protection and accessibility.
To discover how Own’s solutions can transform your Salesforce data management, request a demo below.
