Universities around the world are investing heavily in Enterprise AI. Yet despite the promise, a large proportion of enterprise AI initiatives fail to deliver meaningful, sustainable value. The reason is rarely the technology itself—it’s the absence of a coherent economic model that explains how the institution actually works. This is where Professor William F. Massy’s […]
READ MOREUniversities already have a data warehouse, and it is already full of meaning: student systems, HR, finance, research grants, space utilisation, learning platforms. The problem is rarely the absence of data. It’s the absence of connection. When Pilbara shares its models and outputs directly into the university’s Snowflake environment, those outputs stop being reports and […]
READ MOREUnderstanding the Landscape Civil Engineering stands as one of the foundational disciplines in higher education, yet its financial performance reveals fascinating insights when compared to peer engineering programs and non-engineering fields. Using comprehensive Australian sector benchmarks1 from 2024, we can uncover patterns that transcend borders and offer valuable lessons for universities worldwide. The Cost Efficiency […]
READ MOREThe recent EDUCAUSE report — “2026 EDUCAUSE Top 10: Making Connections” — identifies ten pressing technology, data and organisational issues for higher education institutions around the world. (EDUCAUSE Review) While many of these issues focus on technology and data, a clear theme is emerging: institutions must build connections — across people, functions, data systems, and […]
READ MOREIn a time when every university is being asked to do more with less, sector benchmarking has never been more important. Yet, benchmarking isn’t just about lining up numbers — it’s about asking the right questions to turn data into action. At Pilbara Group, we’ve spent years helping universities build Activity-Based Cost models that connect […]
READ MOREI was chatting with Gary Cokins on LinkedIn last week about using Activity-Based Costing (ABC) for university financial management and I mentioned that by using traditional financial accounting methods a lot of costs could be missed, specifically cross-subsidization and overhead. Cross-subsidization occurs where the costs of teaching subjects are covered by other schools, think elective […]
READ MOREFollowing on from our post on ‘why’ institutions should be delving into Academic Program Financial Management, and the previous tips on data requirements, project staffing, and model business rules and assumptions, this week’s tip looks at managing expectations relating to timelines. Tip 4 – Timeline (time to build, time to update) Let’s be honest – […]
READ MOREFollowing on from our post on ‘why’ institutions should be delving into Academic Program Financial Management, and the previous tips on data requirements and project staffing, this week’s tip provides advice on Model Business Rules and Assumptions. Tip 3 – Model Business Rules and Assumptions (a list of some of most essential ones) Firstly, the […]
READ MOREFollowing on from our post on ‘why’ institutions should be delving into Academic Program Financial Management, and last week’s post on data requirements, this week’s tip provides advice on the level of project support needed to support these models. Tip 2 – Project Staffing (who is needed and why) These types of models often require […]
READ MOREFollowing on from last week’s blog post on ‘why’ institutions should be delving into Academic Program Financial Management, this post provides advice on the types of data needed to support these models. Tip 1 – Data Data extracts are required from multiple siloed systems. These include Financial Management, HR/Payroll, Student Management Systems, Timetabling and sometimes […]
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