The Challenge
College of the Sequoias faced a familiar challenge in higher education: too many systems, not enough connection. Data from the SIS, LMS, and other systems lived in silos, creating fragmented reporting and inconsistent results.
The institution’s legacy, on-premises data warehouse and custom reporting tool were aging quickly, requiring extensive work to update or validate even routine reports as requirements changed over time. Teams relied on reports driven by disparate data sources, resulting in inconsistencies that made it difficult to validate results or make confident decisions.
IT and Institutional Research teams were stretched thin, juggling compliance reporting and ad hoc requests. Meanwhile, end users struggled to access the data they needed to make strategic decisions, leading to long turnaround times and limited visibility into campus trends.
Making updates to the legacy reporting environment was difficult as it could take days or weeks just to determine the downstream effects of making a change to a view. Troubleshooting errors was also extremely difficult and time consuming due to the lack of understanding and documentation of how the legacy reporting system was architected.
“Our old reporting system had reached its limit. It became harder and harder to maintain, and people didn’t always understand where the data came from or what it meant. That made it difficult to trust the results.”
The Solution
COS implemented Invoke Learning’s Data Lakehouse on Snowflake, connecting it directly with Argos to create a single, trusted environment for reporting and analysis.
Using Invoke’s Unify layer, daily data snapshots from Banner and other systems flow into the lakehouse, preserving complete historical context. The InvokeDataDate field gives COS a “time machine” for data, allowing users to compare enrollment, performance, or demographic trends across any point in time, without relying on manual data freezes or external spreadsheets.
Once connected to Snowflake via ODBC, Argos became the front-end reporting tool for this new data ecosystem. Reports that previously hit the production Oracle database or the legacy data warehouse are being rewritten against the data now residing in the Invoke Data Lakehouse
At the same time, COS used the migration as an opportunity to establish formal data governance practices. Each report now goes through a validation process to confirm definitions, selection criteria, and business meaning before being approved and migrated, improving data literacy and institutional trust.
“Using the platform as a way to get data governance running has been a big win for us. It helps people understand what the data actually is, where it lives, and what it means, and we can document that for anyone who comes later.”
The Results
By modernizing its architecture and connecting Argos to the Invoke Data Lakehouse, COS has seen measurable improvements in performance, accuracy, and collaboration.
- Report Modernization: Approximately 75% of all institutional reports now run in Argos
- Cloud Reporting Adoption: 25% of reports already run against the Invoke Data Lakehouse, with more transitioning each quarter
- Cleaner Portfolio: A new audit process has eliminated unused reports, freeing up bandwidth and reducing confusion
- Historical Comparisons: The InvokeDataDate field powers point-in-time enrollment analysis and year-over-year comparisons that were previously impossible
- Increased Trust: Governance reviews verify that every report’s data source, logic, and definitions are accurate and consistent before release.
With the new architecture and processes COS has in place, they are able to reduce the time it takes for report updates from days and weeks to minutes and hours depending on the issue. Reports run quickly and there is less load on the production Oracle database. This will only get better as COS continues to rewrite reports to query against the Invoke Data Lakehouse.
One early success: COS built a new enrollment comparison report in Argos that leverages the Invoke historical snapshots. Staff can enter two terms and instantly compare course enrollments, percentages, and differentials; no manual Excel work required.
“Being able to dial the clock back and compare data from year to year is incredibly powerful. It’s the kind of time-travel ability we always wanted in a data warehouse.”
The Future
COS is continuing its data-governance journey while expanding adoption of Argos and the Invoke Data Lakehouse. Future goals include:
- Increasing the share of Argos reports powered by the lakehouse to further reduce load on transactional systems.
- Expanding use of historical data analysis to support enrollment management, financial forecasting, and student success initiatives.
- Leveraging the Evisions community and upcoming Argos Starter Packs built for the Invoke model to accelerate new reporting use cases.
- Maintaining system independence so Argos reports continue working seamlessly through future SIS or LMS changes.