Customer story · Maine Maritime Academy
Keeping cloud data in reach with the Argos REST Connector
When StarRez moved to the cloud, Maine Maritime Academy’s IT team lost direct database access. The Argos REST Connector, live in just a few hours, kept reporting running with very little downtime.
Castine, Maine
Public maritime academy
Argos
- No new tool to buyThe answer was a new feature in the tool they already used.
- On premise and in the cloudIT can reach key data wherever it lives.
- Easy for usersUsers like how easy Argos is to use.
Maine Maritime Academy at a glance
1941
Founded
885+
Students
273+
Faculty and staff
2
Campuses
14
Undergraduate programs
01
The challenge
The move to the cloud cut IT off from the data
Maine Maritime Academy (MMA) provides general reporting to the entire institution through a centralized location, its IT Department. This improves data integrity and reduces the hours required to obtain the information used to make business decisions.
The Academy was moving some applications from on premise to the cloud, most notably StarRez, its residential community management platform. With the on-premise version, IT had direct access to the database for both integrations and reporting. Moving to the cloud would eliminate that access, and IT would have no good way to tie StarRez information into its typical reporting process.
No direct database access
The cloud version of StarRez closed the route IT reported through.
Many people need the data
Lots of people on campus need StarRez data, but not the system itself.
An account for everyone
The fallback: create StarRez accounts for end users and train each of them.
02
The solution
A connector in a tool they already had, live in hours
MMA was going on ten years as an Evisions client, using Argos in some capacity in almost every department on campus. Argos gave the Academy a way to produce on-demand, up-to-date information for those departments through a centralized provider, IT.
During a conversation with the Evisions Client Engagement Team, MMA mentioned the coming move to the cloud and the reporting challenges it would create. A member of the team told them about a recent addition to Argos that could address the issue: the REST Connector.
The REST Connector is part of the Argos Connect advanced feature. It is an easy-to-use interface that can directly connect to cloud data sources and return data in JSON or XML formats, which can then be reported in Argos.
Being able to use a new feature in a tool they were already using was a no-brainer in MMA’s eyes. With some assistance from the Client Engagement Team and Evisions Support, MMA had the REST Connector implemented in just a few hours.
| Before | With Argos |
|---|---|
| StarRez in the cloud, with no direct database access | The REST Connector brings StarRez cloud data into Argos |
| StarRez accounts and training for many end users | End users keep getting their data through Argos reports |
| A reporting gap opened by the cloud migration | Normal reporting resumed with very little downtime |
“
We recently migrated StarRez, our housing system, to the cloud and thought we lost direct access to the database. Fortunately, Evisions introduced the Argos REST Connector to us just before our cloud migration. We have used the REST Connector to modify our dashboards and reports to access the data from the StarRez cloud database, making access to that data seamless for our end users.
Dynnise Littlefield · Application Systems Manager, Maine Maritime Academy
03
The results
Back to normal reporting, with barely a pause
With the REST Connector up and running, and StarRez just moved to the cloud, the IT Department was able to resume its normal reporting process with very little downtime or interruption to end users.
No new purchase
A new feature of a tool already in use, not another tool to buy.
Live in hours
Implemented in just a few hours with help from Evisions.
Cloud and on premise
Key data stays reachable wherever it lives.
Easy for users
Users like the ease of use.
“
I regularly use Argos to tie data together from several systems. I love that I am able to provide up-to-the-minute data from disparate systems to my end users. It saves a lot of time and resources.
Jake Adams
Systems Integration Specialist
“
Our Systems Integration Specialist was able to use Evisions Argos to offer a single interface to satisfy both objectives and complete the queries efficiently and completely.
LT. Kyle Willette
Company Officer, Commandant’s Staff, Regiment of Midshipmen
04
The future
Ready for the next system that moves
As additional systems and services migrate to the cloud, Maine Maritime Academy is confident it will be able to use the Argos REST Connector to maintain its connections and reporting processes. IT can keep providing important data, whether on premise or in the cloud, to key decision makers throughout the institution.
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