Phytorion
Fully Integrated, Customized Data Warehouse Solutions

In the education sector, the impact of technology goes far beyond smart boards in classrooms and learning games in computer labs. Indeed, digital technology has the potential to dramatically expand the access to education to all. However, data integration and analysis remains a fundamental challenge. Varying levels of source system maturity, multiple architectures, transactional complexity and seemingly incompatible rules keep institutions from leveraging their true, strategic asset: data.

Having experienced these obstacles first-hand, as well as having provided education solutions for many years, Yiorgos Marathias and his close-knit group of senior developers established Phytorion in 2005 to provide data warehouse and analytics products for higher education and K-12.

“By resolving the complexity in our data warehouse, we deliver Student, HRMS, and Finance functionality ranging from cross-functional reporting to enrollment management, and employee mobility to GL and project costing, via user-friendly analytics and reporting,” explains Marathias, CEO and President at Phytorion.

Having well designed, rich pre-built content that can be implemented either incrementally or as a full Enterprise data warehouse is very important but not sufficient to ensuring project success.

Regardless of technology, the most important goal is to deliver success not just at go-live but for the long term

Education’s decentralized decision making has resulted in different sets of metrics, rules and definitions across offices. Reaching agreement is not trivial and many projects flounder because this part is severely underestimated. “Here’s where our approach differs,” elaborates Marathias. “We don’t just sell our software and then add some consulting. Our consulting is integral to the project: our long experience allows us to quickly understand true needs and help the users draw correct conclusions. We then customize our products to fit exactly what the organization wants, no more and no less.”

For example, a leading Midwestern University approached Phytorion with the challenge of calculating Faculty Instructional Activity on demand for the provost and deans. “They wanted to accurately analyze class sizes at the school, department, and instructor level,” says Marathias and further adds, “At the end of the project, FIA, instead of taking several labor-intensive weeks, completes in just minutes and can also provide the data for additional reporting: Delaware Study; Faculty Salary Equity Analysis; Faculty Instructional Costs; Faculty Flow Model; IPEDS Human Resource Survey; and Affordable Care Act, among others.”

Phytorion, which metaphorically stands for fresh ideas and innovation, is known for their collaboration with top innovation centers in discovering new technology; the latest being with IBM. “They are developing a Predictive Customer Intelligence solution for different industries and we are working with them to develop it for higher education. Using a variety of tools, from analytical to predictive, we are focusing on improving teaching effectiveness and student outcomes and maximizing operational efficiency,” adds Marathias.

“Regardless of technology, the most important goal is to deliver success not just at go-live but for the long term,” he says. “This requires building a partnership with the organization. It also requires the ability to work with very different organizations, from schools that have a very large staff to colleges and districts with just a person or two. You have to adjust your approach to make each school or district successful and you can only do that by using very experienced consultants who will find the successful path among the many that are not.”

On its futuristic journey ahead, Marathias reveals, “We see many opportunities, both in new developments such as Predictive and Cloud—an area still relatively new in Education—and in bringing our approach and knowledge to new markets.”