Understanding Digital Transformation
Digital transformation is the use of technology to transform business strategies and processes into digital. The term has increasingly been referred to, considering that our life have become more attached to technology.
Regardless of the organization's size, digital transformation is essential to shape a better value for its users. The reason is, technology has been proven to transform conventional approaches to the digital ones.
Digital transformation is made up of three main components, i.e.:
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People
In digital transformation, 'people' is not only about human resources, but also the organizational structure and culture that supports the process. Combination between great individual talents and an excellent organizational system will result in a collaborative, flexible, and efficient work culture.
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Business
Through the use of technology, organizations are able to develop new business models and strategies. Since they are rooted from a digital transformation perspective, the must overcome problems caused by conventiona business processes.
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Technology
Technology becomes an intermediary for organizations to digital transformation. By adopting new technology, they can improve their services to create more value.
In fact, the three components can be found in any organization, including universities. One of the best examples is Sanata Dharma University (SDU).
Get to Know Sanata Dharma University
Sanata Dharma University (SDU) is one of the oldest private universities in Indonesia. Starting from Prof. Moh. Yamin’s idea to establish a Teacher Education College (Indonesian: Perguruan Tinggi Pendidikan Guru, abbreviated as PTPG) and support from several Catholic foundations, PTPG Sanata Dharma was officially established on October 20, 1955. Now, it has 8 Faculties with 25 Undergraduate Study Programs, 3 Vocational Study Programs, 1 Professional Study Program, 8 Masters Study Programs, and 1 Doctoral Study Program.
To support the digital transformation development at the organization, SDU collaborates with BRIAPI to implement an easier, faster, and safer financial management system. With BRIAPI support, they will continue their digital transformation process.
Challenge
In the last decade, SDU campus’ administrative and financial matters are still dominated by manual processes. In addition to the Covid-19 pandemic, those issues have become a major challenge for the university. Consequently, they require a handful of technology support to improve their learning system to financial management.
However, every change, especially in the IT aspect, requires various adjustments to university regulations. They have to measure the capacity and flexibility of manual tasks properly before applying digital solutions.
SDU is putting efforts to always adapt the latest technology to improve the quality of their services. They understand that technology is constantly evolving and they need to keep an eye to keep up with it. Thus, they aligned their strategy towards digital transformation by optimizing the three main components: people, business, and technology.
In terms of people, SDU rearrange the IT staffs and other employees into a more effective hierarchy. Meanwhile, in terms of business and technology, they explore new technology, especially for their system development.
See also: Open Banking Adoption in 2022 Accelerates Banking Digitalization
Solution
One of SDU's efforts to strengthen business and technology components is integrating with BRIAPI.
Since 2019, SDU and BRIAPI have initiated discussions regarding collaboration and various potential use cases that can be explored. Hence, from 2020 to 2021, SDU started developing and integrating one of the BRIAPI products, BRI Virtual Account (BRIVA).
In January 2022, SDU initiated a payment trial using BRIVA. The results are that BRIVA has made it easier for the finance department in managing student payments
"BRIAPI helps various payment processes, one of which is student payments. Prior to automatic payment by BRIVA, students had to go to campus to verify their payments. Now, they can complete payments via mobile banking," said Danang, IT team member at Sanata Dharma University.
Since SDU also have established installment method for their students, BRIVA can actually help the process to be easier. It is because BRI is one of several banks that supports installments.
Integration Process
During the integration process, Danang and the SDU IT were delighted with the helpful team of BRAPI. They gave maximum service by intensely discussing and coordinating the process. Thus, both parties can monitor each step of the integration process.
“If there is an issue, we discuss it in the group, and BRIAPI team always responds to any obstacles that come up in the integration process. They are also excellent in providing feedbacks so that we can actually integrate BRIVA in SDU,” said Danang.
He also added that SDU IT team requires to study every aspect and feature of BRIAPI. One of them is the use of tools related to API testing, such as Postman. In addition, BRIAPI team always assists and educates SDU regarding the implementation of open APIs. In the end, all efforts will help the businesses succeed.
“As we learn the API, we asked BRIAPI team about using Postman and other tools that can help the integration process. Once again, they helped us to understand every detail of open API,” he continued.
See also: MSMEs Digitalization Boosts Their Revenues in 2022
What’s Next from Sanata Dharma University and BRIAPI
To boast a sustainable digital transformation, SDU strives to develop what they had already done with BRIAPI. In the future, they will try to observe other BRIAPI products that are suitable for their needs.
“We have a long-term vision with digital transformation. After proving that BRIAPI makes payments easy from any channel, we will match it with our needs," said Danang.
Furthermore, SDU IT team will explore further about BRIAPI technology to continue the digital transformation process.
“We will continue developing and innovating to create the best digital experience for SDU academic community, notably to help administrative and financial matters. With BRIAPI support, hopefully we can realize these dreams," concluded Danang.
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