ProConnect, Protech’s engagement management software delivering a highly secure cloud-based CRM solution has been chosen from a shortlist of competitive solutions to deliver an Awarding Body Management System for NCC Education.

ProConnect consists of a suite of customer-facing solutions including websites, CMS, portals and applications, all underpinned by Protech’s specialist CRM functionality.

Protech’s powerful engagement management software will significantly improve NCC Education’s levels of customer service, reduce its operating costs and support its business strategy to deliver a web-based communications channel for its customers, employee users and learners.

NCC Education are a leading awarding body and global provider of high-quality British education qualifications, recognised by universities, professional bodies and employers worldwide. NCC Education currently offers its complete education solution through its global network of Accredited Partner Centres in more than 50 countries worldwide.

“As our Awarding Body Management System is now out dated it does not integrate fully or in some areas at all, with other systems we deploy,” said Emma Dawkins, NCC Education’s Academic Director. “This has resulted in our inability to take advantage of modern technology and its application in innovative teaching delivery and assessment activity which are at the core of an awarding organisation.”

One of the key criteria in the selection of Protech as NCC Education’s preferred CRM provider was its ability to provide a CRM solution that supported the delivery of a cloud-based Awarding Body Management System. This will enable NCC Education to move away from its existing ‘on premise’system thereby removing the need to manage and support the infrastructure required to host the CRM and digital solution.

NCC Education’s Awarding Body Management System will be hosted in Protech’s fully serviced managed cloud infrastructure.Protech provides a highly-secure cloud environment which is always available and supported 24×7, 365 by Protech’s front line support team.

ProConnect’s functionality has been specifically designed to meet the needs of the Not for Profit (NFP) sector and meets NCC’s individual requirements for CRM, Education, Record Management, Sales & Marketing and Sales Ledger.

This functionality will ensure that NCC Education’s Awarding Body Management System will be scalable, flexible and adaptable to meet its current and future business requirements, providing crucial integration with other major systems it uses.

ProConnect will allow Protech to design and build a new Centre Portal for NCC Education that will initially provide an online interface for its Accredited Partner Centres.

The Centre Portal will enable NCC Education’s Accredited Partner Centres to perform additional online activities including: registering students and their individual profile, register students onto their specific qualification journeys, schedule exams, conduct online exam assessments, receive qualification results, monitor and track students’ progress, throughout their learning journey and to download and view key resources.

“ ProConnect will enable NCC Education to fully leverage data captured from our corporate website and Centre Portal and to crucially share it across the organisation delivering a richness of data that was not previously possible,” said Dawkins.

Protech’s cloud-based solution will compliment NCC Education’s existing Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) ensuring that it offers learner-led and customised features in line with and exceeding those of other VLE’s currently on the market.

Business benefits to be delivered will include: user accounts fully integrated with NCC Education’s main student and Centre Portal database, automated workflow, and integrated document management across the organisation. Importantly, NCC Education’s financial processes and data will now be integrated with its accounting system.

“We chose Protech as its team quickly understood our business requirements. It was clear that the team’s pragmatic and transparent approach would ensure that a partnering relationship would be established with NCC Education’s project team,” Dawkins added.

“Protech has met our key objective around the replacement of our existing Awarding Body Management System as it will enable efficient manageability and sustainability of our systems through controlled development and systems integration. At the same time, it will support and deliver customer self-service and drive out waste and zero value workflow and processes,” said Dawkins.

The deployment of Protech’s ProConnect is a key element of NCC Education’s overall business strategy to implement an integrated IT and CRM solution. The objective is for the solution to support the operational management and delivery of NCC Education’s core teaching and assessments business and deliver a web based communications channel for its customers and employee users enabling a direct relationship with its learners.

NB:Following Protech’s recent rebranding and repositioning, its Pro9 software and ProWeb digital platform are now delivered as ProConnect.

About NCC Education:

NCC Education was originally part of the National Computing Centre which was first established as an IT initiative by the British Government in 1966 and started offering IT qualifications in 1976.

Since then it has grown a worldwide network of Accredited Partner Centres in more than 50 countries worldwide and supported from the UK head office located in The Towers in the east of Didsbury and three regional offices situated in China, Malaysia and South Africa.

As a leading awarding body and global provider of high quality British education solutions, NCC Education’s qualifications are recognised by universities, professional bodies and employers worldwide. It provides its complete education solution to over 150 Accredited Partner Centres worldwide.

A unique and flexible approach to providing the International Degree Pathway allows students to enter or leave their degree journey at their own pace and receive a certificate for their achievements at each stage. Over 1,000,000 students have boosted their careers with NCC Education qualifications.

About Protech:

Protech has been providing software for professional awarding and membership organisations for almost 25 years. Today, some of the country’s most respected organisations rely on the company’s ProConnect™ software to engage, communicate and transact with more than 2.5 million learners, members and customers.

The powerful CRM functionality at the heart of ProConnect effortlessly manages qualifications and membership while automating manual processes to minimise operating cost. It ships with a fully featured content management system, making it the perfect tool to construct websites and user portals. ProConnect can also manage events, host content, and operate job boards, forums and blogs. These features allow Protech’s clients to increase the acquisition and retention of members, maximise engagement and enhance member value through an enhanced user experience.

All projects are supported by Protech’s industry-leading consultancy services. This approach facilitates the seamless transition to ProConnect while on-house data transformation expertise eradicates disparate data in multiple systems across the client’s business. Because of this, an astonishing 95% of client projects are launched on-time and to the original budget.

Protech’s aim is to help facilitate the sense of belonging between people and their organisations, enabling them to achieve more together.

Learn more at www.Protech.co.uk