The second largest public school district in the United States, covering 900 schools and employing 25,000 staff members, had a sub-par student information system (SIS) used by more than 500,000 students.
The SIS managed the end-to-end student lifecycle, providing student support and streamlining school events. The legacy system, using a monolithic 2-tier architecture, could not keep pace with the exponential growth.
Infosys provided managed services to transform the system, including database optimization, application modernization, seamless workflows, and a consistent user experience.
Key Challenges
The SIS built on the Microsoft technology stack had several issues:
- Data structure: A massive database with 1,000+ tables, 1,800+ stored procedures, views, functions, change data capture, and service brokers
- Data management: Ever-growing data affected application performance, database backup and restore, and other operations
- Heterogeneous landscape: Diverse technologies, tools, teams and a lack of standardized service-level agreements (SLAs)
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The Solution
Infosys’ managed services approach streamlined the student information system
Infosys assessed the IT landscape and implemented a holistic solution.
Architecture assessment
Our team undertook an assessment of the architecture and defined the technical reference model, reference architecture, and prioritized technical debts. We proposed a roadmap for remediation and executed platform stabilization and infrastructure optimization.
Database optimization
Our database team identified and removed unused objects, optimized resource-intensive and high TempDB utilization, partitioned daily attendance tables, compressed the least used table data, archived and purged bigger tables, and undertook parallel execution.
App modernization
We replaced the attendance module with a modularized, self-contained, lightweight app on the cloud and integrated it with the SIS portal. Our team leveraged .NET core, Micro ORM -Dapper, and N-tier microservices-based architecture for caching to increase throughput. It provides scalability in and out of application instances during peak hours when more than 80% of attendance transactions occur.
Application portfolio assessment and rationalization
Our team adopted a 4R (replace, retain, re-write, retire) applications strategy. Further, we defined application consolidation opportunities, technology upgrade cycles, and standardization of security policies. We collected application inventory data across business functions and analyzed data based on technology footprint, ITSM, ownership, and IT spend.
Process improvements
Our team undertook a process audit to assess maturity and capability of application development and support processes. We ensured enhancements through standardized checklists, notifications and dashboards, and formalized deployment processes. Infosys took complete ownership of the application portfolio using a managed services model.
Infosys’ solution ensured a consistent user experience and standardized workflows
Section 508 compliance
Used the SortSite tool to identify and address UI issues.
Mobile-friendly
Developed the application using Bootstrap, jQuery, and other open-source frameworks.
Upgraded versions
Built new features based on feedback from a focus group.
Benefits
Enhanced Learning Experience
Operational performance
Our team reduced computing power by 25%. We also undertook partitioning and archiving, and purging of attendance tables to improve application performance by 26%.
Database optimization
We reduced the database size by 50% from 2.4 TB to 1.2 TB. It reduced database calls in the attendance app by 97%, improved response time by 44%, and improved throughput by 10%.
Superior user experience
We enriched the user experience of the app with Section 508 compliance (AAA standard), developed a mobile-friendly UI, and made it interoperable with learning management systems (LMS) for distance learning.
Lower total cost of operations
Our team improved application stability, which reduced operational costs by 10-15% annually through application stability initiatives and process enhancements. We cleansed the database by eliminating more than four million redundant or orphaned addresses to reduce costs caused by bounced emails.
