PeopleSoft, Pleasanton, CA, an e-business application software provider, yesterday announced an agreement with Embark that aims to offer colleges and universities Web-based technology to better manage admission applications.
The agreement calls for Embark, an online marketplace for students and academic institutions, to integrate its online admissions system with PeopleSoft's system in order to efficiently transfer its admissions data.
Students who log on to www.embark.com would fill out the online application through Embark's front-end interface. The admissions data then would be transferred to PeopleSoft's back-end system, which serves as a database for participating universities.
“It eliminates and reduces the need for data entry, checking fields, among many other things,” said Katie Madden, public relations manager at Embark, San Francisco. “And from an efficiency standpoint, it will enhance [universities'] ability to make sure that their systems are talking to one another.”
The deal also is part of a new supplier program for PeopleSoft MarketPlace, a business-to-business trading network that brings together customers, employees and suppliers to deliver e-business solutions.
Robb Eklund, director of product marketing and learning solutions at PeopleSoft, said the marketplace hopes to work as a platform for marketers to tap into the student demographic market.
“College students are typically well-educated, have disposable incomes and are big users of the Internet,” Eklund said. “It's an attractive market for organizations building e-businesses, and universities are recognizing that and moving toward the Internet.”
Embark and PeopleSoft plan to jointly promote the new application and marketplace to universities and e-businesses via direct mail and telephone. The companies work with 600 and 550 academic institutions, respectively.
