About Fresno Pacific University
Fresno Pacific University (FPU) is a private Christian liberal arts institution located in California's Central Valley. Known for its strong commitment to community and education, FPU has a long history of leveraging technology to enhance student services and operational efficiency. With over two decades of experience in IT, Jeff Jones, now working in the Registrar's Office, played a key role in FPU's data integration and transformation journey.
The Challenge: Breaking Free from Overpriced, Rigid Legacy Tools
For 12 years, FPU relied on a legacy ETL provider as its integration platform. However, in 2024, the university was hit with a demand for a two-year, upfront renewal, despite unchanged usage levels. Worse, the legacy provider's rigid tiered pricing and arbitrary reclassification of connectors made it impossible for FPU to manage costs predictably.
"They kept charging us for connectors we hadn't changed, claiming new classifications. It felt like we were forced to buy a jackhammer just to hang a picture."
Jeffrey Jones
Associate Registrar at Fresno Pacific University
With a shrinking Salesforce footprint and fewer active integration jobs, FPU needed a more agile and cost-effective solution, fast.
The Solution: A Fast, Flexible Migration with Integrate.io
FPU selected Integrate.io for its transparent pricing, low-code interface, and powerful feature set tailored for education and CRM integrations. The migration was urgent, but the platform and support team exceeded expectations.
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Migration Timeline: Full migration completed in less than 30 days.
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Cost Reduction: Nearly 50% savings compared to the legacy ETL provider's renewal offer.
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Job Consolidation: Reduced integration jobs from over 100 to a streamlined, manageable set.
Jeff quickly rebuilt every integration within a month, including:
- Syncing student data from SQL database and CSV files into Salesforce.
- Joining and transforming CSVs for downstream reporting.
- Managing data diffs that were previously unsupported.
One of the standout capabilities of Integrate.io was its ability to perform 'diffs' on CSV files and join CSVs - functions that were simply not possible with FPU's previous ETL provider.
"Some features we never had before, like CSV diffs and merging CSVs, opened entirely new possibilities for our team. It just worked."
Jeffrey Jones
Associate Registrar at Fresno Pacific University
Implementation Support: From Good to Outstanding
Integrate.io’s onboarding and support experience stood out. Jeff praised Solutions Engineer Teri Morgan for her honesty, clarity, and technical continuity.
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24/7 Chat Support: Questions answered in under 5 minutes.
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Proactive Error Assistance: The team flagged and explained errors before Jeff even reported them.
Business Impact: Efficiency, Transparency, and Future-Readiness
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Nearly 50% Cost Reduction: Significant savings compared to the previous provider's two-year renewal quote.
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Zero Downtime: Full continuity of data flows during migration.
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New Capabilities: Ability to push data directly to S3 and leverage API connectors for future tools.
"It was like going from an overpriced jackhammer to a smart Swiss Army knife. We didn't lose any functionality, we gained flexibility and control."
Jeffrey Jones
Associate Registrar at Fresno Pacific University
Advice for Other Higher Ed Institutions
FPU's story is a wake-up call for educational institutions locked into expensive, bloated ETL contracts.
"Most higher ed institutions are overpaying for integrations they barely use. Integrate.io gave us the exact tools we needed, and nothing we didn't,"- Jeff noted.
Looking Ahead
With a lean, automated setup and ongoing support from Integrate.io, FPU is well-positioned to expand into Microsoft integration use cases, SFTP workflows, and additional student data services.
"We're syncing less than a million rows daily, and Integrate.io handles it effortlessly. We’re not just saving money, we're setting ourselves up for long-term agility."
Jeffrey Jones
Associate Registrar at Fresno Pacific University
If you are looking for data pipelines for CRM integrations at affordable pricing, get a demo of our true low-code platform that offers fixed-fee pricing with unlimited usage.
