University of Melbourne taps Rimini Street for customised Salesforce support

New partnership will bolster Salesforce expertise while improving efficiency and cost management.

The University of Melbourne’s Mobile Learning Unit has tapped Rimini Street for Salesforce support across its eLearning platform.

Rimini Street will support the unit’s highly customised, integrated Salesforce environment.

“Salesforce is integral to our operations. If it were to go down, it would impact student access to courses and our ability to manage support issues,” said Pat Violo, program office manager at the Mobile Learning Unit.

Within the University, the Mobile Learning Unit (MLU) is an online learning platform that provides course creation, hosting courses and learning support to a range of education providers.

Salesforce is the core system to manage student access, student requests and generate data-rich insights and the system configuration is tailored to the specific needs of the MLU.

However, the MLU faced the challenge of maintaining a sufficient level of Salesforce expertise within its team to ensure the platform runs both efficiently and cost effectively.

“Striking the right balance between insourcing and outsourcing critical skills has been an ongoing concern, particularly given the complexity of our highly customised Salesforce environment,” said Violo.

The MLU team undertook a risk assessment and developed the business case to replace its existing Salesforce support service. Following a rigorous selection process, the team chose Rimini Street to support its current and long-term objectives.

“We see Rimini Street as a strong global partner with extensive expertise and a vast resource network, making them well-positioned to support our complex Salesforce environment,” he said.

Yet in transitioning from its incumbent support provider, who has years of experience with its systems, the MLU faced numerous risks that needed to be carefully managed.

“Moving away from an established provider means ensuring Rimini Street rapidly gain a deep understanding of our customised environment,” he said.

During the adoption phase, the MLU needed to minimise any potential downtime or service gaps.

Ongoing, the team is looking to retain the necessary in-house Salesforce knowledge, while leveraging external expertise where it adds the most value.

“It’s ensuring that outsourcing elements of our support results in both cost savings and improved service quality without unexpected trade-offs,” he said.

What external Salesforce experts bring to the table

Partnering with Rimini Street, the MLU is looking to tap into specialists with deep technical knowledge while maintaining critical Salesforce skills in-house.

Many organisations often lack the internal scale to support a robust and constantly evolving platform, according to Joe Locandro, EVP and global CIO at Rimini Street.

“Having a managed service provider enables staff to learn and grow alongside experienced engineers, gradually increasing the organisation’s internal capability,” said Locandro.

In addition, an external perspective often reveals opportunities that internal teams might overlook.

“Providers like Rimini Street work across multiple industries and environments, allowing us to suggest best practices and innovative approaches that internal teams may not be exposed to,” he said.

The MLU plans to streamline its processes and optimise the Salesforce environment, while continuing to maintain certain critical skills in-house. The goal is a more cost-effective support model without compromising quality.

“Managed services address this by offering long-term stability, consistent delivery, and access to a broader pool of expertise that internal teams may not have,” said Locandro.

With Rimini Street on board, the MLU will with focus on operational improvements and new course offerings.

Looking ahead, the MLU is excited about continuing to innovate on course creation so that it can offer a seamless design and hosting platform for educational providers.