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Why Consolidating Your Tech Stack is Critical for Career Education Success
Portico
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In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, it’s easy to find a tech solution for nearly every problem. But as the education sector grows more complex, many institutions are left juggling multiple systems, contracts, and tools—each with its own fee, contract, and learning curve—that may not even integrate with one another.
This fragmented approach creates inefficiencies, wastes resources, and increases the risk of compliance issues. In 2025 and beyond, consolidating your technology stack is no longer a nice-to-do but a must-do for career education institutions seeking operational excellence.
Consolidating your tech stack allows you to:1. Lower your technology spend
2. Manage fewer contracts and vendors
3. Reduce manual data management through integration
4. Standardize operations across every department
5. Train new staff faster
In career education, data integration and standardization are essential to achieving operational excellence. As technology continues to evolve and costs rise, ensuring that your systems work together seamlessly is no longer just a best practice—it’s a critical component of success. Integrated software ensures that your data is timely, accurate, and secure, allowing your team to quickly identify at-risk students and take action before it’s too late.
Standardizing your tech stack also helps career education programs stay compliant with increasingly stringent regulations. By consolidating your technology, you reduce the risk of errors, streamline processes, and ensure that each department is operating with consistent, reliable data. Moving into 2025, consolidating your tech stack isn’t just about improving efficiency—it’s about future-proofing your institution against rising costs and data security threats.
Read on for a step-by-step process on how to consolidate your tech stack in 2025 and beyond.
1. Make a List of all Your Tech
Start by creating a comprehensive list of every technology tool your institution uses. Include what problem each tool solves, its cost, and when the contract expires. In larger organizations, it’s important to involve each department in this process to ensure nothing is overlooked.
Having a full view of your current tech stack is the first step in identifying opportunities for consolidation and efficiency.
2. Identify Overlap
Are you using two different surveying tools in two different departments?
In large organizations, it happens more often than you may realize, particularly with free or low-cost tools. While using multiple solutions to solve one challenge may seem fine, standardizing tools across the organization promotes better collaboration, efficiency, and compliance.
In career education, data integration and standardization are particularly critical to operational excellence. As we move into 2025, rising operational costs and increased scrutiny around data security make these factors even more essential. Software integration ensures your data is timely, accurate, and secure, helping staff quickly identify at-risk students and intervene before it’s too late.
Standardizing your tech stack not only improves operational efficiency but also enhances your institution’s ability to comply with strict regulations governing career education programs. By consolidating systems and reducing the number of vendors handling sensitive data, you minimize security risks while ensuring all departments remain aligned and compliant.
3. Audit Your Vendors
Do they only provide the solution you’re currently using? Or do they offer additional solutions?
Often, you can secure better pricing by bundling multiple solutions from a single vendor. When multiple products come from the same provider, they are typically designed to work seamlessly together, saving your team time and reducing operational friction. For example, Portico (formerly CourseKey) offers skills tracking, attendance, and surveying tools all within one platform. By using these solutions together, you can automate tasks—like sending satisfaction surveys based on completed hours or skills—thereby freeing up your team from manual processes.
Additionally, consider how well each solution integrates with your existing systems. As we approach 2025, eliminating manual data entry and reducing upkeep is critical to staying competitive. If your SIS doesn’t integrate with your attendance or LMS tools, it might be time to switch to a more cohesive, integrated solution that reduces administrative workload and improves data accuracy.
4. Consolidate Vendors
Once you understand what each of your vendors offers, decide what stays, what goes, and if there’s any new technology you want to add.
If you have two vendors who offer the same or similar solutions, consider the following to determine which vendor you’d like to work with:
- Do they offer better pricing for multiple products?
- Are they responsive when you have questions or concerns?
- Do their tools integrate with other software systems?
- Do they regularly update their software?
- Are they actively building new tools and products that may benefit you in the future?
The relationship between your organization and your vendors should be more than just transactional—it should be a true partnership. As you choose which vendor to work with, prioritize those that are committed to your long-term success. Look for partners that not only offer competitive pricing and robust integrations but also demonstrate a clear vision for the future.
Vendors that actively invest in innovation, regularly update their products, and provide responsive support will help ensure that your tech stack continues to evolve and meet the changing needs of your institution well into 2025 and beyond.
5. Create a Rollout Timeline
Vendor contracts may expire at different times, and rolling out new technology at inopportune moments—such as during the start of a term or immediately after a holiday—can disrupt your operations.
Once you’ve determined which tools to retain and which to phase out, develop a detailed timeline that aligns with contract expiration dates and minimizes service disruptions. Staggering implementations will give your staff ample time to adjust, helping to ensure a smooth transition and maintaining operational continuity as you consolidate your tech stack.
Consolidating Your Tech Stack with Portico
Portico offers many of the tools you’re already using—surveys, skills tracking, attendance, retention, etc.—in one platform. You get solutions for every department for one contract and payment.
We integrate with leading LMS and SIS to reduce manual data management and ensure your team gets the right data at the right time to improve student success.
Need help getting started? Request a demo and receive a complimentary technology audit from one of our software experts.
