Information Technology
Get out of the report queue without handing out database access
Your team defines the queries, the joins, and the permissions once. Every other office runs its own reports inside those boundaries with no database credentials, and the queue stops being your team's work.
Trusted by technology teams at community colleges, private institutions, and public university systems
The situation
Every department's reporting problem becomes your ticket
You did not volunteer to be the analytics department. You became it because you are the only office with the access, and every office on campus knows it. The requests are reasonable, the people asking are not the problem, and none of it is what your team was hired to do.
01
The queue is other people's work
A dean, a counselor, and a budget manager all need something from the same system this week. All three requests land with the same two people, who also have a patch cycle to run.
02
Somebody wants a login to look one thing up
Granting it is disproportionate. Denying it makes you the obstacle. Over-provisioning becomes the default, and pulling access back when roles change is manual work nobody has time for.
03
One person knows the schema
Everyone routes around the queue by asking that person directly. When they take another job, the institution's reporting leaves with them.
04
Every department has its own tool, and every one of them calls you
Admissions bought a dashboard product. Advancement has a spreadsheet nobody else can open. Finance exports to Access. Each one came with its own login, its own security model, and its own ticket to your team when it breaks, and none of them agree on what a student is.
Governed self-service
Build it once. Grant it once. No new accounts.
Argos separates who writes the query from who runs the report. Your team owns the logic, the joins, and the permissions. Every other office selects parameters, filters, schedules, and exports without seeing a schema.
Who can run what is decided in one place, at the folder and DataBlock level, and the same permissions cover the report, the dashboard, and the plain-language answer. Adding an audience means granting access, with nothing new to secure.
- Unlimited users and unlimited connections, with no ERP seat or database login required
- Report writers build new layouts without touching queries
- Dashboard Designer builds and shares dashboards from the browser, embedded in your portal
- Reporting logic lives in documented, portable objects, so it stays when the person who wrote it does not
“Before Argos was implemented, every department on the multiple campuses had to fend for themselves and create their own reports or hire consultants to create them. The reporting strategy was very inefficient.”
Fred Rocha · District IT Applications Support Manager · North Orange County Community College District
SELECT hold_type, studentsFROM DataBlock: RegistrationWHERE term = :termArgos X
Answer the question without becoming the answer
A dean needs headcount by program before a meeting. Under the current arrangement that is a ticket, a queue position, and two of your team's hours.
Argos Data Agent lets that dean ask in plain language against governed data, and shows the SQL behind every response. Nothing bypasses the permission model, and nothing runs against the raw database. For people who prefer to work with the result directly, Pivot Mode and Explore Data reshape it without writing a query.
- Argos Data Agent for plain-language questions, with the SQL visible
- Pivot Mode and Explore Data for filtering, reshaping, and exporting without a new request
- Answers grounded in governed objects and existing MAPS permissions, not an uploaded spreadsheet
- Zero Data Retention, with masking and redaction available on sensitive fields
- Dashboard Designer, Explore Data, and Pivot Mode are included with Argos at no additional cost
- Argos Data Agent is licensed separately, in Core and Advanced tiers
“Before Argos, numbers were often wrong, and we had to spend hours finding and fixing data issues. It was slow and frustrating.”
Ryan Barrameda · Admissions System Manager · SUNY FIT
One platform
Four products, one authentication model, one security review
MAPS is the platform underneath Argos, Argos Data Agent, FormFusion, and IntelleCheck. Directory integration and single sign-on are configured once, and every product's permissions are administered in the same place, by the same team, against the same accounts. Permissions are set per product inside it; what you do not do is stand up a second directory integration or answer a second security questionnaire.
For your team that means the document automation the Registrar wants and the payment processing the Controller wants do not each arrive as a separate vendor, a separate directory integration, and a separate security questionnaire.
- LDAP group sync and SAML SSO, configured once
- Folder-inherited permissions and permission tiers across all four products
- Query queuing and priority, so reporting load does not compete with production
- One HECVAT, one Trust Center, one set of documentation for your reviewers
- Products can be adopted independently. FormFusion does not require Argos, and IntelleCheck does not require FormFusion on-premises.
Built to last
Reporting built on-premises carries into SaaS, and the person who built it does not have to
Reporting logic lives in documented objects rather than in a query one person wrote and never wrote down. The definition, the joins, and the permissions are the institutional knowledge, and they stay when the person who built them moves on. So a move to SaaS starts from a documented library, and your team does not have to reconstruct what old reports did.
Argos connects to Banner SaaS through the Ellucian Data Gateway and to Colleague SaaS through the Data Gateway and Ethos REST APIs, live on customer campuses today.
- Reporting definitions live in documented objects rather than in a query somebody wrote once
- The Banner Starter Pack ships more than 150 pre-built objects across Student, HR, Finance, Financial Aid, and Advancement, and the Colleague Starter Pack more than 50, both included with the license
- Write-back is on-premises only. SaaS does not give the same update and function access, so bring the specific process and we will tell you what is possible in your target environment.
- In Banner SaaS, an API FormDirector maintains eTranscript compatibility and an IntelleCheck FormDirector keeps check and direct deposit processing running
Built for the security review
One platform, MAPS permissions, HECVAT available, and a migration path that follows your ERP on-premises or into SaaS. See it in a demo.
In their words
IT teams, on what left the request queue
Outcome
Connects student, advancement, and engagement data across systems that were never built to talk to each other.
Earlham College
IT and Enterprise Reporting
Outcome
The default answer to a data question, instead of one option among several.
Bard College
Institutional Technology
Outcome
Governed self-service reporting across a large public university, with report access decoupled from ERP accounts.
SIU Edwardsville
Information Technology Services
Outcome
Stood up institutional reporting at a new campus without building a separate reporting team to run it.
UWI Five Islands
IT
Related
Where the technical detail lives
Reporting for Banner
Data Gateway connectivity, the Banner Starter Pack, and what carries over.
Reporting for Colleague
UniData and Colleague SaaS through Data Gateway and Ethos.
Platform and Security
Authentication, permissions, deployment models, and what changes in a SaaS migration.
Argos Data Agent
What it can reach, what it cannot, Zero Data Retention, and what your governance committee will ask.
How it fits
Where Argos sits relative to what you already run
With your ERP
Argos sits above the ERP instead of inside it, querying live data through documented objects. It does not replace the system of record and does not require you to move data into a warehouse first.
With Ellucian Insights
Insights aggregates data across Ellucian products on a managed data layer. Argos works directly against your own environment, covering dashboards through Dashboard Designer, conversational analysis through Argos Data Agent, compliance output, and scheduled delivery, on definitions your team controls. Most institutions run both, and the two share a data layer instead of competing for one.
Versus your current process
Today the request queue is the access model. Reporting capability is concentrated in whoever knows the schema, and every new need is either a ticket or an account. Governed self-service moves the boundary from who has credentials to what a report is allowed to return.
Trust and security
You take security seriously. So do we.
The Trust Center is published and the HECVAT is available on request, so a reviewer can start before anyone schedules a call.
Permissions are enforced, never overridden
A report can only be opened by someone your team has permissioned to run it, and a view is built for the role that needs it. Least privilege is the principle the model is built on.
Authentication
LDAP group sync, SAML SSO, and permission tiers, configured once at the platform layer and applied across every product.
Production performance
Query queuing and priority keep reporting load from competing with the transactional system.
Data handling
FERPA-aligned practices and encryption in transit. For Argos Data Agent, masking and redaction of sensitive fields.
Deployment
On-premises, hybrid, or SaaS, with the same permission model in each.
Documentation
Trust Center, and a HECVAT (the standard higher education security questionnaire) on request.
Frequently asked questions
Questions we get asked first
Do you have a HECVAT?
Yes, on request, along with a Trust Center covering data handling and deployment.
How are permissions enforced, and can a report override them?
Permissions are enforced at the MAPS platform layer and inherited by folder. A report constrains what a user can see and cannot expand it.
Does every user need a database credential or an ERP login?
No. Licensing is per institution with unlimited users, and report access requires neither an ERP seat nor a database account.
What happens to our reporting objects when we upgrade?
Reporting definitions live in documented objects rather than in a query somebody wrote once, so an upgrade starts from a documented library instead of a hunt through old queries.
What happens when we move to SaaS?
Argos connects to Banner SaaS through the Ellucian Data Gateway and to Colleague SaaS through the Data Gateway and Ethos REST APIs. What carries over from an existing library depends on how it was built, and Professional Services scopes that against your own inventory.
Is write-back supported in SaaS?
Write-back is on-premises only. SaaS does not give the same update and function access, so bring the specific process and we will tell you what is possible in your target environment.
What is included with Argos, and what is licensed separately?
Dashboard Designer, Explore Data, and Pivot Mode are included with Argos at no additional cost. Argos Data Agent is licensed separately, in Core and Advanced tiers.
Where does data go when someone uses Data Agent?
Argos Data Agent operates under Zero Data Retention, honors existing MAPS permissions, and supports masking and redaction of sensitive fields. It runs against governed objects instead of the raw database.
How does this coexist with Ellucian Insights?
Insights aggregates across Ellucian products on a managed data layer. Argos runs against your own environment on your team's definitions. Most institutions run both.
Do we have to buy all four products?
No. FormFusion does not require Argos, and IntelleCheck does not require FormFusion on-premises. In Banner SaaS the IntelleCheck FormDirector is required and is provided to IntelleCheck customers at no additional purchase.
How does reporting load affect our production database?
Query queuing and priority are managed at the platform layer so reporting does not compete with transactional workload.
Who will we be working with?
People who have done your job. Our consultants and support staff came from campus IT and institutional reporting before they worked here, because higher education is the only sector we build for. Support is in-house, with no outsourced agents, and it is the thing customers raise unprompted more than anything else about us.
How long does implementation take?
It depends on your environment and how much you want migrated on day one. Professional Services scopes it with you.
What does it cost, and can we talk to an institution like ours?
Licensing is per institution rather than per user, and price is driven by institution size and product mix rather than headcount. Argos, Argos X, FormFusion, and IntelleCheck all carry unlimited users and unlimited connections, with no per-connection or per-report charge and nothing billed for people who only read reports. The one exception is Argos Data Agent Advanced, which is licensed per seat. Data Agent Core is unlimited. Tell us your FTE and which products you are weighing and we will give you a real figure on the first call, then put you in touch with an institution of roughly your size and ERP. Ask them about support while you are there. It is in-house, and it is the thing customers raise unprompted more than anything else.
Can we talk to a technology team like ours?
Yes. Tell us your institution type, size, and ERP, and we will introduce you to a comparable IT group directly.
Next step
Bring in whoever reviews vendors
Get a demo, and ask for the platform documentation and the HECVAT to go with it.
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