Project Overview

Centralizing Higher Education Data through a Scalable Cloud-Based PIM Solution

The client operates a widely used online platform that helps students compare and select U.S. colleges based on profiles, admission requirements, scholarships, and other critical data points. However, their internal process for managing college information was fragmented and heavily reliant on manual data entry using Excel spreadsheets. As they scaled, the limitations of this approach became increasingly evident — data inconsistency, lack of real-time accessibility, and challenges with third-party system integration slowed down operations and posed a risk to data quality.

Our team proposed and implemented a cloud-native PIM solution hosted on AWS. This architecture allowed for high availability, scalability, and reliability while drastically reducing infrastructure maintenance overhead. The system was built using PHP and MySQL, containerized using Docker, and exposed through RESTful APIs for effortless interoperability.

The Problem

The client’s existing data management process was heavily dependent on manual workflows and lacked the infrastructure to support growth, integration, and data accuracy. As their platform gained traction and the volume of incoming data increased, several critical challenges emerged:

Key Infrastructure and Integration Challenges

College information arrived in a variety of formats from different institutions and sources. Without a centralized system in place, data had to be manually curated and organized in Excel spreadsheets. This led to discrepancies in the data, duplication of effort, and difficulty maintaining a consistent and authoritative dataset across the platform.

Core System Limitations Hindering Performance

The legacy approach was not equipped to scale with the company’s growing user base and expanding data requirements. As the number of colleges and data attributes increased, performance began to degrade. The system was unable to handle high concurrency or large-scale data operations, resulting in slow load times and delayed processing during peak usage.

Foundational Issues Impacting Platform Efficiency

The absence of API connectivity made it impossible to integrate with modern content management systems, catalog tools, or third-party educational platforms. This siloed data within the client’s ecosystem and hindered collaboration with external partners or automated content delivery workflows.

Technical Barriers to Scalability and Integration

Reporting was a time-consuming, manual task that required extracting and aggregating data from multiple spreadsheets. This not only consumed valuable staff hours but also introduced a risk of errors, limiting the organization’s ability to respond quickly with data-driven insights and strategic updates.

System Constraints Affecting Growth and Usability

Data sent from colleges came in a variety of file formats and structures, many of which were not directly compatible with the client’s workflow. Each dataset had to be manually cleaned and formatted before being uploaded, significantly slowing down the ingestion process and increasing the potential for human error.

The Solution

To overcome the limitations of the legacy system and meet the client’s growing operational demands, we architected and implemented a robust, cloud-native Product Information Management (PIM) solution hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS). The solution was meticulously designed to support both functional and non-functional requirements, offering scalability, reliability, and seamless data operations.

Robust Data Modeling

At the core of the system, we built a flexible and scalable data model capable of managing entities with up to 1,000 distinct attributes. This comprehensive schema accommodated the wide variety of data associated with U.S. colleges, including academic programs, admission criteria, scholarship options, demographic statistics, and more. The design ensured future extensibility, allowing new attributes or data categories to be added with minimal friction.

Concurrent User Load Handling

Understanding the need for high availability and consistent performance, especially during traffic spikes, we conducted thorough load testing on the platform. Our engineers simulated real-world usage scenarios to evaluate performance under concurrent access by over 100 users. Based on the results, we optimized server configurations, database queries, and caching mechanisms to ensure that the platform could deliver a smooth and responsive experience, even under heavy load.

Excel-Compatible Data Exchange

Given the widespread use of Excel among educational institutions, we implemented robust support for .csv and .xlsx file formats. The system was designed to seamlessly import structured data from Excel spreadsheets, eliminating the need for manual formatting or conversion. It also supported exporting filtered datasets into Excel-compatible formats, enabling stakeholders to quickly access and share curated data.

Automated Reporting

To streamline data analysis and operational oversight, we developed an automated reporting engine that supported both scheduled and ad hoc reports. Stakeholders could generate real-time insights into the college database, including newly added institutions, data accuracy metrics, and engagement statistics. These reports played a vital role in decision-making, strategic planning, and platform quality assurance.

REST API Integration

We developed a suite of RESTful APIs to enable seamless integration with external systems such as content management systems (CMS), catalog tools, analytics dashboards, and third-party educational platforms. These APIs provided programmatic access to the college data, enabling dynamic content delivery, automated updates, and ecosystem-wide interoperability. This not only expanded the reach of the platform but also opened new possibilities for partnerships and service enhancements.

The Result

The implementation of the cloud-based PIM solution marked a significant transformation in the client’s data management capabilities. By centralizing previously scattered and manually processed information, the platform became a single, reliable source of truth—greatly enhancing data accuracy, consistency, and accessibility. Automation of the data import/export processes drastically reduced manual workloads and errors, accelerating the publication of up-to-date college information. Furthermore, the platform’s robust performance under high concurrency ensured that both internal teams and external collaborators could access data in real-time without lag or disruption.

Equipped with automated reporting and seamless REST API integrations, the system enabled real-time insights and smooth interoperability with CMS platforms and third-party tools. This not only improved decision-making but also fostered a more connected and agile digital ecosystem. The modular architecture now supports effortless scaling, making it easy for the client to onboard new institutions, integrate future tools, and evolve in step with the rapidly changing educational landscape. Ultimately, the solution empowered the client to elevate their platform’s performance and prepared them for sustained growth and innovation.

Centralized and Scalable College Data Management Platform

Cloud-Based PIM Solution to Transform College Data Management for an Education Platform

About The Project