York St John University needed a university-wide Dynamics 365 and Power Platform solution to support more than 12,000 students and 150 users.
York St John University needed to modernise an increasingly fragmented technology landscape.
Ageing and end-of-life systems supported different student services, creating disconnected processes and limiting how easily teams could work together.
FormusPro delivered and extended a university-wide Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power Platform solution. The platform now supports more than 12,000 students and around 150 users across 16 teams. It’s replaced multiple legacy platforms, improved student self-service and created a scalable foundation for future digital transformation.
Across York and London through a modern Microsoft-based service platform.
Bringing previously fragmented student services onto a common platform.
Creating a scalable university-wide platform rather than another single-purpose replacement system.
York St John University wanted to replace ageing and end-of-life systems with a modern Microsoft platform.
The objective went far beyond replacing individual applications though. YSJ wanted to improve student services, reduce its reliance on disconnected systems and create a scalable foundation for future digital transformation.
That meant creating an environment capable of supporting multiple university teams rather than introducing another system designed around a single service or department.
FormusPro delivered and extended a Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power Platform solution across multiple YSJ services.
At its centre is the Student Hub, built using Dynamics 365 Customer Service and Power Pages. It provides centralised case management, student self-service, knowledge management, appointment booking, automation and reporting.
The programme also enabled YSJ to retire several legacy systems.
Key Wellbeing, Welfare, SVLO, Specialist Support and Funding Advice processes previously managed through SID were migrated into Dynamics 365. Radius was also replaced, with Dynamics 365 Customer Insights – Journeys providing new communications and alumni management capabilities.
Power Automate and YSJ’s Azure interoperability layer automate processes and provide a scalable approach to integration across the university.
Role-based access and structured data management help teams work securely with sensitive student information.
Where possible, the solution uses Microsoft’s out-of-the-box and low-code capabilities. That reduced unnecessary customisation and made the platform easier for YSJ to maintain, develop and extend over time.
York St John University now has a consolidated Microsoft platform supporting services across the university rather than separate solutions for individual teams.
The new environment has reduced reliance on email and legacy systems whilst improving student self-service and giving teams better visibility of student cases.
It’s also created a reusable foundation for future development. Additional services can be brought onto the platform while further legacy applications are retired.
Today, the platform supports more than 12,000 students, around 150 users and 16 teams.
Crucially, YSJ has achieved this university-wide transformation for under £500k, demonstrating that significant digital change doesn’t always require a seven-figure technology programme.
York St John University is a UK university with campuses in York and London, supporting more than 12,000 students.
Its teams provide a wide range of services throughout the student journey, including wellbeing, welfare, specialist support, funding advice, IT support and student communications.
With multiple teams supporting students across different services, the university needed technology that could connect those interactions whilst giving each team the tools and information needed to provide effective support.
“We have developed a genuine partnership with FormusPro. They have worked alongside us as part of the team, rather than simply operating as a supplier.”
“The FormusPro team have made a significant contribution to this project. Their expertise, commitment and collaborative approach have been recognised by senior colleagues across the university.”
– Emma Woodcock, CIO at York St John University
The executive team were keen to move to a modern ERP solution but needed to manage the implementation very carefully as the organisation was already in the process of implementing a very large-scale bespoke IT system for its core operations.
FormusPro delivered a fast, highly tailored Dynamics 365 implementation in under 15 days, replacing Salesforce and MailChimp with a connected platform built around Sales Hub and Customer Insights. The result is a simpler, more joined-up system.
FormusPro migrated the platform to Dynamics 365 and Power Pages, simplified six complex processes into two, and introduced self-service features that reduced admin overhead and improved the user experience for both staff and applicants.