Bringing Startup Thinking to Professional Education at the University of Waterloo

Andrew Paling | Business Systems Analyst, WatSPEED at the University of Waterloo

The Challenge

Professional education moves at the speed of business. At WatSPEED at the University of Waterloo, so does the work behind the scenes. As the university’s professional, executive, and corporate education division, WatSPEED serves working professionals and organizations who need new skills as quickly as industries demand them.  

Its portfolio spans technology, AI and machine learning, business and leadership, healthcare, cybersecurity, and executive education. Every new program brings another operational challenge to solve.  

Professional education organizations don't have the luxury of standing still. Workforce needs evolve quickly, and learners increasingly expect digital experiences that are just as seamless as everything else they do online.  

“We aren't Amazon or Apple, and that's not who we're trying to be. But clients today expect that high-calibre experience.”

Andrew Paling | Business Systems Analyst at WatSPEED

Delivering on those expectations takes more than a great learner experience. WatSPEED supports everyone from individual professionals and executives to corporate organizations, each with different expectations and operational requirements. No two programs operate the same way.

"Our salespeople come to us and say, 'We just promised five new things to five different people and you need to make it happen,'" said Paling.

Every new program requires coordination across finance, IT, instructors and other university divisions, each with its own priorities and timelines.

The pace never lets up. Neither can the operation behind it.

The Solution

In August 2023, WatSPEED adopted Modern Campus Lifelong Learning with a simple philosophy: launch with a minimum viable product, then optimize from there.

The platform gives WatSPEED a modern non-credit operating system for its professional, executive, and corporate education business. Rather than supporting a single program or learner journey, the platform brings registration, learner records, commerce, and day-to-day administration into one place. That gives the team a consistent operating environment while leaving room to connect new capabilities as new opportunities emerge.

With a consistent operating environment in place, Paling and his team approach every new challenge as something they can solve. Instead of redesigning the business around the platform, the team continually configures the platform around the way WatSPEED works.

When a corporate customer needs a different payment model, or a program needs its own communications approach, Paling and his team find practical ways to deliver the right experience to every learner and partner.

One of the team's earliest priorities was connecting Lifelong Learning directly to WatSPEED's website using the Modern Campus CMS Connector. That gives learners a more seamless registration experience while allowing the team to maintain the flexibility of the platform behind the scenes.

The same thinking also shapes how WatSPEED approaches reporting. Archive Database gives the team direct access to the operational data behind Lifelong Learning, allowing it to build custom reporting around the questions the business needs to answer.

“The mindset is to just make it happen. That mindset turned me from a frustrated business analyst into a business analyst who just looks for a solution every single time something is brought to me.”

Andrew Paling

The Results

Better data reaches every decision-maker

"It's pretty easy to make decisions based on feelings and emotions,” Paling said. “But at the end of the day, data is what really shows you where you're going to be able to make advances.”

Using Archive Database as the foundation, WatSPEED built a reporting capability with Python, SQL, Task Scheduler, Power Automate, standardized Excel outputs, and connected Power BI dashboards. In less than three years, the team has created more than 40 custom reports, giving staff and leadership teams the information they need in the formats they actually use.

Automation has created capacity for higher-value work

More than 25 automations now support routine work across WatSPEED's operations. Learners move into learning platforms automatically. Partner course descriptions stay up to date without manual checking. Repetitive administrative tasks, such as duplicate student merges, happen in the background instead of consuming staff time.

As WatSPEED grows, manual work no longer grows with it. The team has more capacity to respond to new business opportunities without adding the same operational workload.

WatSPEED built a professional, executive, and corporate education unit that moves at the speed of business

WatSPEED now has an operating model that responds as quickly as the industries it serves. As learner expectations evolve and new opportunities emerge, the team continues expanding what professional education can support, from new international offerings to broader partnerships across the university.

The next phase is already taking shape, from introducing single sign-on to expanding the team’s use of AI within the university's governance framework. Throughout it all, Modern Campus Lifelong Learning and Archive Database remain the foundation for the team's approach: launch, iterate, repeat.

“We're improving every day. Launching with a minimum viable product solves the initial problems, but we're never done.”

Andrew Paling