Higher ed institutions invest in a myriad of technology platforms to support students, staff and faculty. The resulting fragmented systems and outdated tools require frequent fixes, draining IT resources, creating poor user experience and exposing institutions to costly cyber attacks. When a student clicks on a phishing link, they open the door to a ransomware attack capable of crippling the entire institution. With 60% of higher ed institutions hit by ransomware in 2024, the question isn’t if fragmented systems will be exploited, but when.
At Pathify’s CX Summit, five technology leaders shared a common message: The greatest cybersecurity threat to institutions lies in the dozens of disconnected systems students, staff and faculty navigate every day. Today, system consolidation represents an imperative — institutions must move quickly to simplify systems, reduce costs and protect cybersecurity.
The Cost of Fragmented Systems
Fragmented systems create poor user experiences, force IT teams into reactive mode and burn resources on maintenance instead of proactive work. Higher ed leaders shared how disconnected systems drained valuable resources, prompting them to consolidate systems as both an operational and security strategy.
- Cybersecurity Threats: With 20,000 students and thousands of staff and faculty, Ball State knew their multiple logins and old link farm portal left them one phishing attack away from a cybersecurity disaster. Pitzer College, meanwhile, struggled to perform crucial security audits due to dozens of systems and forms, and their website became a “dumping ground” for content and forms.
- Poor User Experience: Disconnected logins and platforms confused students looking for crucial information. Before implementing Pathify, locating a tuition bill required “four clicks, entering credentials twice, and single sign-on a couple of times,” explained Brandon Smith, AVP of Information Technology at Ball State University. Fragmented systems became a barrier to student success.
- Technical Debt: Justin Knavel, Director of Support at Seton Hill University, explained how before Pathify, they operated a homegrown intranet on Windows 2008 with Adobe ColdFusion — a platform so obsolete, finding developers to maintain the system proved nearly impossible. Similarly, at Pima Community College, the outdated mobile presence required constant maintenance and offered minimal functionality.
- IT Bottlenecks: For Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC), outdated, disconnected systems created significant overhead for IT staff who spent valuable time managing content updates rather than focusing on larger IT priorities. The drain on resources left them looking for a more efficient way to manage systems.
For each of these institutions, system sprawl drained IT time and resources, created friction for users and left the institution vulnerable to cybersecurity threats. “We as the institution really need to do whatever it takes to prevent dangerous cyber attacks from happening,” Smith explained.
System Sprawl = Cybersecurity Risk
“The more systems we have to support, the more data we have to hunt down and protect. We were reactive in a lot of cases because of limited resources,” explained Jessica Carter, Executive Director of IT at Pitzer College. Institutions like Pitzer face serious cybersecurity challenges, including:
- Too many access points
- Inconsistent security standards
- Limited IT resources to manage security
- Lack of executive buy-in for security initiatives
Carter described their “Band-Aid and chewing gum ecosystem,” a mess of systems and data living on local drives, USB devices and even Post-it notes. Security audits proved impossible because they lacked a centralized system for the college’s content and tools. “We can’t have one guard guarding a hundred doors. Either we need more guards — which isn’t in the budget — or we need fewer doors.”
The Solution: Pathify’s Campus Experience Platform
All five institutions selected Pathify’s Campus Experience Platform (CXP) — a centralized, unified digital hub for an institution’s tools and resources — to consolidate and streamline their tech stack. The vendor-agnostic CXP connects systems like the LMS, SIS and institutional calendars, giving users a personalized digital experience. Additionally, Communities and Success modules connect students with one another and simplify task management. Adopting a CXP enabled these institutions to unify systems, reduce costs and boost cybersecurity.
Isaac Abbs, CIO at Pima Community College, offered insight into gaining institutional buy-in for Pathify. He turned the search for a solution into “a college project, not just an IT project.” The strategy involved meeting with 27 departments to understand pain points and priorities. After pitching Pathify, a colleague called it “the Ferrari they couldn’t afford.” Abbs responded, “What if I could get the Ferrari for the same price we’re paying for the broken-down Pinto?” Faculty senate leadership publicly endorsed the approach, and adoption reached over 99% across the institution.
Proven Strategies to Reduce Sprawl
Higher education faces mounting pressures to do more with less — making strategic consolidation a smart pathway toward cost savings and operational efficiency. Institutions shared strategies for streamlining tech stacks and saving budget.
Create a Single Pane of Glass
Pathify’s CXP consolidated tools into one hub, equipping Ball State with pre-built recipes and widgets for key tools like email, Canvas and OneDrive — integrated securely into the platform at launch. “From day one, we knew the system was safe and secure. And it was easy to activate,” Smith explained. Students log into MyBallState, a secure, authenticated environment with links they trust. “I sleep a little better at night knowing data no longer floats around the public internet, being scraped by the dark web,” Carter emphasized.
Adopt a Data Governance Process
Several institutions created formal data governance committees alongside their Pathify implementation. At Ball State, IT meets monthly with representatives from across campus, helping them understand institutional data. Pitzer uses both a data management integrity committee with data stewards from across campus and an IT advisory committee with faculty, students and non-IT staff. This dual approach ensures both technical soundness and real-world usability. “Transparency is really important to me. Shared visibility builds trust. The more involved people feel during these processes, the more likely they will adhere to them,” explained Carter. Pima created a cross-functional group to review upgrades, make recommendations on new features and ensure the platform remains streamlined and effective.
Implement Role-Based Access
Role-based access control protects security while enabling personalized user experience. “Users see what they need to see and not what everybody else needs to see. It’s a very custom environment,” Smith explained. The multi-layered ecosystem of roles makes it easy to surface the exact information each person needs, no matter how many roles they fit into. Meanwhile, IT maintains the ability to add or remove those permissions when roles change or employees offboard.
Delegate Content Management
Abbs shared how freeing users to maintain their own content in MyPima empowered and excited them. Pima now has nearly 100 pages maintained by various departments covering everything from executive orders to AI resources to facilities information. Departments became “homeowners rather than renters,” suddenly caring deeply about maintaining their own digital “lawn.” At Seton Hill, allowing non-IT admins to create and manage content freed up help desk employees to create tools rather than maintain content. Built-in analytics show admins granular engagement activity and page traffic, enabling them to remove unused content and maintain a streamlined environment.
The ROI of System Consolidation
With small teams and large workloads, consolidating systems allows IT teams to make the most of their technology investments. Carter asked, “How can we do our best with the small amount of resources we have?” All five institutions consolidated various point solutions into a unified platform — stretching resources and saving budget.
- No New Hires Needed: Shifting to Pathify reduced the IT resources needed to maintain the platform. Rather than hiring additional staff to manage MyPima, Abbs noted they freed up the employee who maintained their old student portal — allowing them to tackle other projects and increase impact.
- Saving Money by Reducing Redundant Tools: Institutions sunsetted outdated, redundant systems, eliminating costly contracts and disparate front-end solutions. MATC moved from an older FAQ-based Ocelot chatbot to Pathify’s GenAI Chatbot. Seton Hill moved 109 clubs from Engage into Pathify Communities.
- Amplifying Tools and Capabilities: MATC’s Ocelot bot required constant manual updates and sometimes gave incorrect answers because it lacked integrations with key tools and information. Pathify’s GenAI Chatbot, which learns from the unified repository of information and integrated systems, amplifies their existing content and tech stack.
The ROI of consolidation extends beyond cost savings and system reduction. Consolidation creates a streamlined, trusted ecosystem where students feel safe, freeing IT resources for proactive security work and building institutional cultures where everyone contributes to security. Carter explained, “Who’s responsible for data and keeping it safe? Is it just IT? Is it your supervisor? No, it’s everybody.”
System consolidation serves a dual purpose — securing cost savings in a time when many institutions face budget constraints, and building a cohesive digital experience for students, staff and faculty. David Rowe, CIO at Milwaukee Area Technical College, emphasized bringing efforts back to the student experience. “That’s why we’re here. That’s who we’re serving.”
Curious about Consolidation and Cybersecurity? Explore the full sessions from Pathify’s 2025 CX Summit: