Eight Years of Continued Excellence
We pride ourselves on the great relationships we have across all the universities we have worked with.
Finding a good consultant for your Higher Ed IT project can be daunting; it may even seem impossible at times because every consultant will tell you exactly what you want to hear. We, at Optimal Partners, are different. Since our inception in 2007, we have strived to put our clients first by listening attentively and working hard to meet their needs.
Our work runs the gamut of both large and small scale projects with prestigious Ivy League and private institutions like Boston College, Brown University, Harvard University, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology to public schools in New England, such as the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth.
The scope of projects we have worked on has varied in different levels of commitment. We have managed the year-long 2.5 million dollar implementation of Huron’s Effort Reporting at Harvard University. We have also managed some projects part-time, including the 1 million dollar implementation of the Canvas Learning Management System across an entire campus, to more hands-on projects such as managing a team of 5 to 15 professionals. Even our founder, Nuno Couto, has been willing to get his hands dirty; he co-authored a multi-year Data Warehouse roadmap and continued to monitor its progress and analyzed the data in order to better assist the goals of the overall research.
Staffing & Consultants
We are able to meet the demands of all of these projects due to the great staff that we work with every day. Almost all of the consultants that we list on our website we have either worked with personally or they come to us on the recommendation of someone who’s opinion we value immensely. This policy ensures that every consultant we place on a project will provide the clientele the highest quality of work possible.
Your Higher Ed IT Project Hub
Working on projects, listing consultants, and assisting in filling available positions is only a small portion of our work in Higher Ed IT. We also run and manage this blog, Higher Ed Projects. We aim to be your one-stop-shop for everything Higher Ed IT. We list many valuable resources; from an extensive series on LMS implementation to light but thought provoking reads on the importance of hiring team members with nontraditional backgrounds.
We aim to be your one-stop-shop for everything Higher Ed IT.
Our blog also serves as a centralized list for project resources: project management courses ranging from beginner to expert level, free project management templates that will allow you to keep a keen eye on every stage of your implementation, informative ebooks, and helpful documents that will allow you to keep better track of your progress. Our blog will also soon feature a news page, allowing visitors to have a centralized RSS-like feed full of all types of news and articles pulled directly from the best project management sites. Additionally, we encourage users to participate in our poll so we can gather feedback and opinions on how to better meet your needs. Our list of resources and available features are ever-expanding as we continue to grow.
An Agent for Change
We believe Higher Education can open doors for those that are fortunate enough to experience it. However, the reality is, not everyone can be afforded the same opportunities due to various circumstances out of their control. This is what makes us so committed to social entrepreneurship.
Our commitment to providing professional development opportunities and education is in line with many events that we sponsor.
Our commitment has taken on many different forms over the years. We currently sponsor two meetup groups, Higher Ed IT Professionals and the Students & Recent Grads Mentoring Network. The former seeks to connect Higher Ed IT professionals to share project experiences, seek advice, and build camaraderie; the latter focuses on connecting bright and committed aspiring students with already established professionals in their field to network, gain necessary skills, and build lasting connections.
We also support various charities, such as Room to Read. Room to Read is an organization that partners with local communities in developing nations to bring educational opportunities to children in those communities. Like us, Room to Read believes that a quality education is a necessity in order to create a better life for oneself. We recently worked with Room to Read in order to build a library in India to further bridge the gap between literacy rates and gender, allowing young girls to have access to children’s books.
Our commitment to providing professional development opportunities and education is in line with many events that we sponsor. We have worked with the Charlton College of Business at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth in order to sponsor a Startup Weekend in which any student or member of the community can enter a business plan that focuses on creating positive impact in Southeastern, Massachusetts and compete for sponsorship. Additionally, our reach goes far beyond our home state of Massachusetts. Our founder is working diligently with the Society for Economic Development of the Azorean Islands in Portugal in order to create a Startup Weekend for young entrepreneurs.
In the last eight years, we have been committed to assisting and expanding the world of Higher Ed IT and leaving a positive impact on the world. We are immensely proud of the work we have been able to accomplish thus far and know that the future holds many great opportunities for us to continue giving back to Higher Ed IT.
Avoid costly mistakes and wasted time – talk to an impartial peer in Higher Ed!
There is nothing like speaking with a peer who has implemented the same product – send us a request.
You can also provide general feedback, inquire about additional free resources, submit a topic you’d like us to cover, tell us about a feature you’d like to see, or request the best staff for your project.