Award Recognizes Pepperdine University's "Engaging Waves" CRM Initiative; Encompasses entire student lifecycle and connects faculty, staff and all business processes associated with recruitment, retention and advancement; Lifecycle approach to constituent engagement delivers quality, addresses retention and alumni communications, and provides more personalized service to students
PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 20, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Three years ago, Jonathan See, Chief Information Officer (CIO) at Southern California's Pepperdine University, faced a looming campuswide challenge. He wanted to bring multiple data systems together into one all-encompassing CRM solution. He envisioned a system that would not only provide more meaningful reports to better inform decision-making, but also be implemented into digital communications that reflected the same personal touch for which the university was well known.
Enter TargetX in 2012, when Pepperdine University began to work with the largest higher education partner of Salesforce.com – the worldwide leader in CRM – with the goal of bringing Pepperdine's campuswide vision to life through centralizing and personalizing data systems online—and most of all, benefiting the end-user—students.
"We are all about relationships at Pepperdine and technology infrastructure directly impacts student experience," See remarked. "Students are nearly always online and we wanted to improve our ability to engage in dialogue there. I also wanted to improve efficiency through one CRM that would address multiple schools and needs, so that the left hand would know what the right hand was doing and support the end-user all through the student lifecycle."
Pepperdine University was formally recognized with the annual X Award during TargetX's Annual User Conference in Las Vegas on July 21, awarded in the Keynote speech by Founder, Brian Niles who praised the University's campuswide approach, which:
- Enhances the institution's recruitment efforts
- Attracts and retains the best students
- Builds meaningful community and enduring alumni loyalty
- Provides dashboard reporting that fosters effective decision-making... and more.
"Pepperdine is on the forefront of the shift in university technology moving rapidly to cloud-based platforms that have the scalability, expandability and security needed to improve the efficiency so desperately needed in higher education today," said Sasha Peterson, CEO of TargetX. "We're very pleased to be partners with such a world-class institution and team at Pepperdine."
"First and foremost, TargetX is a truly great implementation partner--and I stress the word--partner," said See. "TargetX was never one of those companies who just presented a technology 'solution' and then disappeared. They've always shown a vested interest that we succeed."
About Pepperdine University
Pepperdine University is an independent, medium-sized university enrolling approximately 7,700 students in five colleges and schools. Seaver College, the School of Law, the Graduate School of Education and Psychology, the Graziadio School of Business and Management, and the School of Public Policy are located on the University's 830-acre campus overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Malibu. Courses are taught in Malibu, at four graduate campuses in Southern California, permanent program facilities in Washington, D.C., and at international campuses in Germany, England, Italy, Switzerland, Argentina, and China.
About TargetX
Since 1998, TargetX has served as an innovative force in the field of higher education, helping colleges and universities customize and implement effective and innovative technology solutions. A leading CRM company, TargetX provides a campuswide solution to help colleges build relationships and forge lifelong communications with their most important constituencies, including prospective students, current students, alumni and potential donors. The company's CRM is built on the powerful development platform of Salesforce.com — the worldwide leader in customer relationship management and a pioneer in cloud computing. With its 16-year reputation for innovative technology and industry expertise, TargetX has become one of the most trusted CRM providers in higher education.