Customer Stories
Sustainable revenue and profit growth
01 University of Sydney - Short Courses
Short and sweet
onCourse in Action
Sydney University's short courses (also referred to as micro-credentials) help individuals quickly update qualifications, fulfil continuing professional development requirements, and introduce professionals to new skills such as management or leadership, or help ignite creativity for innovation and change.
The problem
The University of Sydney’s Short Courses is a "clean sheet" start-up within the University ecosystem. They sought a proven, scalable, secure, end-to-end technology solution and a reputable partner to with which to grow. After completing a rigorous market test the University chose ish onCourse as its partner.
The solution
The ish onCourse professional services team collaborated closely with the Short Courses, finance, technology, project management, marketing, procurement, risk and 3rd party integrators teams to deliver the solution, its integrations, templates and custom workflows on time and budget.
The result
The ish onCourse platform and support have been delivered as promised. Hosted by ish, and fully integrated into the University's finance system and Adobe Experience Manager, onCourse delivers as promised and exceeds all service and support level commitments leaving the Short Courses team to confidently focus on growth and scaling.
02 Dell
Higher Ed goes even higher
Double A Labs in Action
Dell helps higher education with digital transformation through innovative education IT solutions to deliver enhanced learning experiences.
The problem
Expanding Dell’s footprint in Higher Education through USA, UK, and Canada has always been problematic and Dell sought a much-needed fresh approach to engaging with this market that was unique and cohort-appropriate.
The solution
Built on top of Double A Labs’ software, Advocate Central was created. The Dell team designed and hosted engaging, relevant content for University students to learn how to make better content, network with peers, and collaborate.
The result
A great big "oh ya baby" from the student attendees. 11x total impressions to 8.3m, 32x more likes from 9.2k to 295k, and 302k total engagements ...close to 10x the objective. The program is now being scaled to bigger and broader Higher Education audiences in the region.
03 NIDA
Act accordingly
onCourse in Action
A star is born. Act Accordingly. Ready for your closeup.
You don’t have to be Cate Blanchett or Sam Worthington (both NIDA alums) to get into the premier acting school’s classes.
The problem
NIDA were rebuilding their website assets from the ground up with goals of better presenting their short course offering and creating a more integrated and easier to use enrolment process.
They had engaged a web company to build these websites, but there was a huge challenge in bolting together a sophisticated search engine to a ecommerce engine which understood not just “products” but courses, schedules and other education concepts.
NIDA admin staff were spending valuable time fielding phone calls from prospective students during peak business hours. There was also a need to manually input enrolment data from one software management system to another, resulting in errors and duplications.
The solution
onCourse was rolled out over a very short timeframe in just a few weeks, meeting the existing project deadlines. Over the next few years a complete website and brand redesign were rolled out, and NIDA commissioned some important enhancements to onCourse in order to meet business requirements.
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Faceted search to make it easier for students to search across 500 product offerings, including showing pre-counts to avoid users making choices leading to no results.
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More sophisticated location searching to handle NIDA’s geographically diverse offerings
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Live integration with the Tessitura CRM (a product similar to SalesForce)
And of course a student management and ecommerce engine.
A current, constantly updated website was created, allowing students to browse accurate information 24/7. Enrolment information was pushed from onCourse to Tessitura via an API, ensuring that any changes that are made in onCourse will automatically update in Tessitura. Relationships between contacts are also included, along with their enrolment data, qualifications, invoice information and waiting list details. Users are notified immediately about any mistakes.
The result
The number of repetitive calls to NIDA staff were significantly reduced. And with only one point of data entry, information is transferred between programs and websites seamlessly and accurately. Staff were able to better manage their time and complete tasks quickly and efficiently.
NIDA continues to grow its short course and corporate offerings dramatically, without increasing administration costs and staffing. Their website is regularly cited as a leading example of its type.
04 You Tube Shorts
Not short on success
Double A Labs in Action
You Tube Shorts is the spot to shoot, share, and binge short videos (think 60 seconds or less) on YouTube.
The problem
The Shorts community is dispersed globally and needs better access to their Community Partner managers and other creators.
The solution
The Creator House is THE place for all of Youtube community to meet one another, exchange ideas, chit-chat with Community Partner Managers, and learn from experts in the field.
The result
The program achieved 1,500% in attendees, an unprecedented 98% capture rate (users stayed and did not leave), and a 100% satisfaction score, never before seen.
05 Western Power
A reliable network relies on it's people
onCourse in Action
Western Power is a Western Australian State Government-owned corporation responsible for sustainably and reliably delivering electricity to residents and businesses by efficiently and safely building, maintaining and operating its electricity network.
The problem
With over 2,800 employees the majority of them in the field, and sending them home safely to their families each day, monitoring, delivering and managing their safety and well-being programs was highly problematic, time-consuming and error-prone.
The solution
The onCourse solution, its integration flexibility, workflow customisation and out-of-the-box superior administration and communication capability sit at the core of managing this ever-changing highly regulated environment.
The result
The business has complete visibility over its safety and compliance program significantly reducing its risk profile and consequent management efforts. It achieves this with fewer staff and signicianktless effort than before onCourse was implemented.
06 MacMillan Learning
Zoom and Teams didn't have a chance
Double A Labs in Action
MacMillan Leaning is driven to empower teaching with digital tools and resources that provide impactful learning experiences and improve student outcomes for both educators and learners.
The problem
Macmillan Learning wanted to understand from college-aged students about how they currently use technology and what they’re looking for in future solutions.
The solution
Double A Labs hosted a Student Focus Group within the Double A Labs platform, providing an interactive setting to gather student feedback and generate clear, actionable metrics for future improvements within the Macmillan curriculum.
The result
6.5x increase in participation when compared to traditional partners, 80% positive shift to use AI for schoolwork and a 60% increase in demand to attend more virtual events using the Double A platform.
07 Sydney Community College
Scaling for volume
onCourse in Action
Sydney Community College is one of the most progressive short course providers in Australia, with a range of vocational and communinty courses. They have transitioned very effectively into an online learning environment as well.
The problem
In 1998 Sydney Community College launched one of the first online enrolment websites in Australia. It was a good first attempt, but didn’t scale with the huge demand.
The solution
onCourse was able to scale quickly to handle the number of visitors and ecommerce transactions required. This was especially a challenge in those early days with slower hardware where new terms were released all at once and traffic peaked over a short period.
onCourse was built from the beginning the scale across a cluster of servers and cluster of databases. This has allowed Sydney Community College to hit its 99.95% uptime and performance goals.
08 University of Sydney - Continuing Education
More with less
onCourse in Action
The University of Sydney Centre for Continuing Education (CCE) offers classes in everything from beekeeping to Beethoven. CCE enrols more than 40,000 students a year.
The problem
The University of Sydney’s finance department required that enrolment and payment data be reported daily. Also, corporate clients needed to prepay course fees in order to enrol their staff in classes.
The solution
onCourse sends the required reports to the finance department on a daily basis, saving time and administrative effort. Corporate clients are enrolled in courses immediately upon registration, and an invoice is sent for future payment.
The result
The Centre for Continuing Education streamlined their administrative staff from 30 to 6 and increased enrolment by 20% in just two years.
09 Willoughby Arts
Nice and easy does it
onCourse in Action
Willoughby Arts Centre is a thriving hub of artists and the students who come to learn from them.
The problem
With a high turnover of courses and programmes, and a very small team of two people to run all the administration, bookings, marketing and management. With an older audience of both students and artists, there was concern about the take up of new technology.
The solution
onCourse not only delivers an engaging website, but also solves many of the complex accounting issues with artists who are shareholders in the revenue being generated. Students book entirely online, removing the need to enter bookings by hand over the phone or by mail. The new website is easy enough to use that even technology challenged students enjoy using it.
05 Willoughby Arts
Project Name
(Previous Customer)
10 Byron Community College
Eco Logic
onCourse in Action
Byron Community College has the best sustainable growing courses in the country.
The problem
Developed more than a decade ago, Byron Community College’s website and student management Developed more than two decades ago, Byron Community College’s website and student management system was functional but hard to use, ranked low on Google and presented the college as tired and outdated. Business processes were dictated by the system limitations and not always efficient. Byron wanted a modern site with excellent support for mobile devices where students would have a positive enrolment experience.
With a large range of courses, excellent search and browsing capabilities were important. And to convert website views into sales, courses needed to be presented with a rich range of images, video and copy.
Business processes were dictated by the system limitations and not always efficient.
The solution
onCourse delivered new program management and scheduling features to the Byron admin team. Staff had the opportunity to reimagine what best practice process might be.
On site training from our VET and Community College expert allowed the Byron team to get running effectively in onCourse within a few weeks.
In the first instance the existing site design was carried across, reducing the transition effort of rebranding and marketing changes at the same time. They have since used one of our template sites and adapted it to the Bryon Community College branding and navigation needs on more than one occasion.
Byron Community College are always looking for ways to improve their branding and processes and we’re there with them every step of the way.
The result
Administration overhead was reduced allowing the existing team to increase work on new business generation. The website ranks highly in native Google search results and inspires new students to access courses. The college continues to grow and is successful financially and in educational outcomes
11 University of Newcastle
Practical magic. Critical mass. Mass appeal.
onCourse in Action
With 38,000 students at six campuses (including one in Singapore), The University of Newcastle integrates study with practical experience.
The problem
The University of Newcastle had recently established a Sydney campus right in the heart of the CBD and were delivering their regular degree programmes from that site. They wanted to expand into short courses both to deliver to an important market and also to explore the idea of providing new entry points into higher education.
And they wanted to launch in six weeks.
The solution
We worked with the client to wireframe the site, navigation and structure. Redback Solutions (based in Newcastle) were brought on board by us to complete a new the website design in record time and hand it over to ish developers for implementation.
In the meantime we provided a hosted onCourse offering from our data centre, turning around the base system, setup and on site training in only two weeks.
The result
The new website generated provided a platform for students to see course information, enrol and pay online keeping the need for staff at The University of Newcastle to a minimum. Furthermore, data entry errors were virtually eliminated with an AutoMate integration, which provides several checks to data entered into onCourse, identifying incorrect information and alerting users immediately. onCourse can integrate with many 3rd party back end systems to accommodate clients’ business needs. After many years as a great client and gaining control of all of it's programs the University was able to manage many of its requirements with existing technology at the University. ish helped migrate the work and data last year at the University's request.
(Previous Customer)
12 City East
Modernise
onCourse in Action
City East delivers a very broad range of short courses in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
The problem
Saddled with an aging student management system that was not cloud based and didn’t embody modern marketing opportunities, City East needed a way to modernise their website and backend processes.
The solution
onCourse’s advanced import features allowed City East to craft a custom import and bring across all their important data and history. The transition went smoothly and ongoing upgrades in the cloud are seamless and invisible to users.
13 Macquarie Community College
More students - less admin
onCourse in Action
Macquarie Community College serves adult learners in communities around Sydney with a goal of providing accessible and affordable learning opportunities.
The problem
MCC required a more robust online enrolment and ecommerce solution to encourage students to book online, making it more convenient for students and reducing the administration costs of taking phone bookings. More business process automation was also needed to process tutor payroll, drive scheduling and determine profitability of classes.
The solution
onCourse created a website that offered secure and speedy student enrolment, available 24/7. It also gave staff unlimited access to support services via email or phone.
As for tutors, onCourse includes a feature that tracks instructors’ attendance and imports tutor payroll data into Macquarie Community College’s payroll system, guaranteeing accuracy.
onCourse also generated detailed class budgets that ensured profitable classes continue and all funding is received. Conversely, a certain number of enrolments are required in order for a class to proceed — and the class can be cancelled if the minimum isn’t met.
The result
Online enrolment streamlined the process for both students and administrative staff. Errors in tutor attendance and payroll were eliminated. MCC now knew instantly whether classes were profitable or not, and adjusted their course offerings accordingly.