Rasmussen University: Providing Campus-Wide Access to Critical Content

The main challenge facing Rasmussen’s IT/IS staff was the sheer scale of the document repository the school had built up. Upon further investigation, they also realized that many of the existing images were of poor quality and missing metadata needed to store them logically and to retrieve them quickly based on search criteria staff members commonly used. Using the robust Softdocs migration tool, Rasmussen and the Softdocs professional services team were able to collaborate and solve this problem and have since imported over four million documents from SchoolDocs into Softdocs.

“Migrating all this content was challenging at times,” MacGibbon said. “But every time our Softdocs project manager said he was going to do something, he did it. If things got difficult, he and his team stayed engaged, communicated clearly, and worked hard until they found a solution. Softdocs is more than just a vendor – they’re a trusted partner.”

Unlike some smaller colleges or universities, Rasmussen offers a full range of undergraduate programs at 23 campuses spread across six states. As such, they searched for a replacement document management platform that would provide ready access to applications, financial aid packets, transcripts, and many other kinds of content for each user in every location. Only Softdocs fit the bill. In the registrar’s office alone, utilizing Softdocs instead of a combination of SchoolDocs and manual document processing saves the team 37 hours per quarter. This time is now spent serving students and completing other value-added tasks better suited to employees’ expertise.

With limited resources and time, Rasmussen staff members were uploading content and entering data manually into multiple systems. Softdocs eliminates this redundancy, integrating seamlessly with Anthology, Salesforce, and other core systems across the institution so that information only needs to be input a single time. It is instantly and securely accessible across the university’s entire system.

“Now that we’ve taken all our documents out of SchoolDocs and put them into Softdocs, it’s much easier for our staff to find the precise information they need quickly,” MacGibbon said. “They simply go into the folders, click on the right one, and open the documents. My team tells me that it’s very easy and intuitive – they just point, click, and get all the information they need. This has improved student service and helps us meet FERPA requirements.”

Protecting Against Cyberattacks

All of Rasmussen’s student-related documentation is now safeguarded in Softdocs’ secure, backed-up data centers, protected with industry-standard security protocols such as SOC 2 in a way that wouldn’t be possible with a vulnerable on-premises solution. Such data security and redundancy also ensure business continuity in the event of a natural disaster or other calamity, as the cloud-based Softdocs solution offers 24/7/365 uptime.

“I always tell my team that we have to get cybersecurity right all the time, while an attacker only has to get it right once,” MacGibbon said. “Softdocs ensures that student information is protected, safe, and backed up in the cloud. The rigor of the security measures that Softdocs puts in place is one of the best things about them.”

Creating a Valuable Partnership

Due to the scope and scale of the content migration that Rasmussen was facing and the size and geographic distribution of the university, it was necessary to find not only a feature-rich system, but also a team of domain experts committed to exemplary customer service. After evaluating several vendors, Rasmussen’s leadership team decided that Softdocs met their rigorous requirements.

“The two main reasons I recommend Softdocs to any university are the completeness of the content management solution and the quality of their leadership and management teams,” MacGibbon said. “There might be a few products that can do the job from a functionality standpoint, but their expertise and customer service set Softdocs apart.”