Case Study
Student tracking software for the Institute of Business Management
Helping businesses to modernise their systems and reduce the amount of manual data input needed is something we do really well at Netgen. This is why we were excited by the challenge that the Institute of Business Management (IBM) brought to us. They were in need of student tracking software that would eliminate the amount of manual data handling they were currently doing.
Who is IBM?
IBM is an online and distance learning organisation. They were established in 1973 in response to the government’s call for training in rural and farming areas in business management. They’ve been around for a long time, and have kept up with the times – evolving their courses and business model to ensure that students can make use of any and all advancements in technology. This was exciting for us at Netgen because we knew that this client understood just how important the right software and technology is for a business in today’s world.
Developing their student tracking software
The project started mid-2024 with a proposal for new student tracking software. At the time, IBM used a WooCommerce WordPress website to handle all of their ecommerce needs. While the system was adequate, it required a lot of manual data handling on IBM’s side to keep track of students, their payments and their various documents. Our goal was to create one system that reduced manual input and tracked all necessary information.
The system we built was a custom web-based solution, which allows access on computers, tablets and mobile phones. The software uses a MySQL database and was developed using C# and .NET Core. Through this dynamic interface, IBM is able to view and manage student profiles. This includes contact and banking details, courses purchased, student documents and payment histories.
The software has gone live and has been making life a lot simpler for the team over at IBM. However, getting to this point was not without its challenges. One of the critical points in scoping out the project was ensuring that IBM’s existing WooCommerce site spoke seamlessly to the new student tracking software. This integration had to be perfect so that no important data was misaligned or simply missed between the two systems.
In order to achieve this harmonious integration, we used an API on our system and the webhooks feature on WooCommerce. This was tested thoroughly to ensure that whenever an order was processed or a new student enrolled on the existing site, the information was pulled through into the new system.
Another challenge was ensuring that information on the existing system, which had been in operation for many years, was uploaded onto the new software correctly. This meant that the team had to export the data from the WooCommerce site, carefully read and validate it, and then upload it to the new system.
Looking to the future
With all of the features available on WooCommerce and the flexibility provided by custom student tracking software, there are many options for the solution to expand. We look forward to working with IBM to improve the automation in the processing of payments and orders, as well as better report generation for customer insights. IBM is in full control of what features they would like to build into their new system and we’re ready for the challenge.
